Kozure Kuzuri
by shinobipopcorn
Summary: Seven year old Elle Shinobi is imprisoned in Stryker's Alkali Lake facility, experimented on due to weak but early developed healing factor. She escapes the facility during the deadly Weapon X rampage, only to collapse from hypothermia in the forest nearby. As luck would have it, someone else has recently escaped... A romance based on "Lone Wolf and Cub" by Koike & Kojima
1. Cold, Fingernails, & Pain

Inspired by Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima.

 **PLEASE NOTE!** Even though this story is inspired by Lone Wolf and Cub, this is going to be a romance. That means that once Elle is grown up, she's going to sleep with Logan. If you don't like those kinds of stories, I won't fault you for passing on this one.

This was my first attempt at writing for the X-Men fandom. When I wrote this story, I hadn't read many Marvel comics apart from a few famous Wolverine stories, so I placed this story in a rough movie continuity. **The story covers ALL the movies.** I did decide to use a few things from the comics, namely Logan's height and eye color (so he will contrast Remy once I bring him in). I mean, I love Hugh Jackman but for this story it works a little better to have Logan tough and tiny. Of course, the addition of Elle means I have to change some things from the films, so nothing will be perfect. Enjoy!

* * *

I hate the cold.

Cold reminds me of steel, like the floor and walls in the cell. The whole thing is too cold and empty to be home, but it is the closest thing I have and I don't even get a bed. I've got a window, most homes have one of those, but unlike a sunny yard my window shows a dank and miserable hallway. I don't get to go outside and play like most seven year olds. I do get to go outside the cell, but not to play. Never to play. Oh, occasionally I'll hear one of the creeps refer to what they do as 'playing', but their sick sense of humor disgusts me. Especially the big one with the coal black eyes; if I so much as squeak without permission, he'll point his nails at me...

I curled my legs against my chest as I remembered how I got the latest scratch on my arm. For some reason, every time the others cut and scraped me, the cuts healed and faded away. But when the big one cuts me, his cuts leave scars. See, the whole reason I'm here is because people can cut me. A lot. I'm a mutant, they explained, and my mutation is something called a 'healing factor'. But my healing is "really weak compared to _his_ ". I don't know who _his_ is, but I do know that normal people don't heal when their skin is cut open the way I do. How do I know that? Because when they first caught me, they caught my mom too. And they did the same things to her that they're doing to me. But she didn't make it.

"Hey brat, stop sniveling in your corner and get up!"

I didn't realize I was crying, nor did I realize someone was coming in the cell until the big one stomped in and dragged me out of my corner by my sore arm. I yelped in pain as he dug his long thumbnail into the wound, probably on purpose.

"Aww, what's wrong, arm hurts? Well that'll learn ya to ignore the boss's commands, runt," he hissed, and dragged me out of the room. I should've known better, but I started kicking and screaming in protest for him to let me go. The big one frightened me, especially since his wounds always seemed to hurt more and take forever to go away. I was halfway down the hall before he had enough, and smacked me across the head.

* * *

William Stryker looked up from his clipboard of paperwork as the door burst open, to an annoyed Sabretooth dragging an unconscious little girl behind him. "...Victor, don't you know how to handle a little girl?"

"Her whining was annoying," he answered with a grumble, dropping her down on a surgical table in front of his boss.

"You know I need her alive."

"She can heal, can't she?"

Stryker went back to his clipboard. "Not to the degree that you or Weapon X can," he answered. "At least not in her current state. It's possible that she may improve after puberty, but then again we may need to intervene to see improvement. But our tests thus far indicate that she would survive the gestation period with minimal interference, and while it's not certain, she should pass on the healing factor."

"'Gestation period?' What the hell you talkin 'bout, _breeding?_ With that scrawny runt?" Sabretooth scoffed, but then scratched his sideburns. "Eh, you never know. She might be a nice piece of ass when she grows up. Never been into the Japs though myself..."

"Elle is only half Japanese," Stryker corrected, looking at the girl on the table. "A shame she didn't get the mutation from the mother's side, we could have used her as well. Anyway, we will likely start tests with Weapon X once she is through puberty."

Sabretooth hissed in disapproval. "How come he gets first go? I been doin all the work."

"You think we're actually going to put the two of them in the room together and let him have at it?" Stryker nearly laughed him out of the room. "I thought you were smarter than that, Victor. He'd tear the damn kid apart, I'm not that stupid. This is a laboratory, everything will be controlled. I'm not going to leave my experiments up to something as unpredictable as a woman's menstrual cycle."

Stryker and Sabretooth continued bantering over various things as Stryker finished his paperwork, until they were interrupted by a guard over the comm system.

"Sir, we have the information you requested on the escaped subject," the guard explained, just as the girl on the table started coming around.

"Victor, go down to control and see to the investigation on the escaped subject. I want to know how he escaped, where the guards were that were supposed to be watching him, and anywhere he might be headed. Then go find him," Stryker ordered, moving to strap the girl down before she woke up and tried to squirm away.

"It was that little shit with the fucked up eyes, wasn't it?"

"I don't know, I've been preoccupied with Weapon X. But you have my permission to punish those who let him escape," Stryker added as Sabretooth stormed out the door, a grin coming to his face.

* * *

I woke up in the bad room, with the bad man standing over me.

"Good afternoon, Elle. How are we, today?"

Stryker, his name's Stryker. And if I don't answer him, he'll hit me. But my head hurts, so I only manage to groan. He seemed satisfied with the answer, because instead of hitting me, he grabbed his measuring instruments and examined a long patch on my leg. They had removed the skin there one of the days, I don't remember when but I remember the pain. Every day after that they measured it to see how my body healed it.

"Well, it looks like you've regrown almost all of the skin we removed on your leg, how impressive," he said with his fake 'nice' voice. Nothing about him is nice. "Hmm, what's this, your arm looks like it's bleeding," he then said as he picked up my sore arm and yanked away the rough bandage I made out of a piece of my 'potato sack' that they cover me in.

"Hmm, I see Victor was having a little fun," he said as he poked the fresh tears, making me whimper. "I think it's fascinating how you never seem to heal from his wounds. Did you ever wonder if there's a reason for that? Perhaps your fear of him interrupts the healing process, or maybe his nails secrete something that prevents the flesh from healing completely... Then again it could just be because he's dragging his nails through you in a jagged manner instead of the smooth slices of an incision."

I shivered on the table as he promptly dropped my arm and got on with his list of 'exercises' for the day. I didn't know it at the time, but today was apparently the day I was scheduled to 'die'. Stryker wanted to see how much blood he could drain from me until my heart stopped. He had a potion or something to kick start it again, and machines to plug into me if I didn't start making more blood.

He stuck a tube in my arm, pushed a few buttons on a machine nearby, and then everything got cold. It was getting colder and colder, and I started to fall asleep. As I was drifting off, I saw a bunch of people rush into the room and Stryker get upset. Suddenly the machine hooked up to me was turned off, and everyone started paying attention to other monitors. I didn't remember what happened after that, because I woke up back in my cell.


	2. Him

A/N: I'm not keeping exactly with the way the new movies do things, so keep that in mind as you are visualizing the events of the story. If you have ever read Weapon X or seen the traditional look of the character, you'll get the visual. (I understand why they changed the helmet in the movie, because after all we wouldn't have believed it was really you-know-who unless we saw his face.) :)

* * *

I think it was a few days since the blood thing, because I've been sitting in my cell ever since and no one's come to cut me. Someone usually comes by and slides a food bowl in the door trap, but no one's come yet and I'm really hungry. I thought maybe if I climb up and look out the window, they might see me and remember to feed me. (I may have a big vocabulary for a seven year old who never went to school, but sometimes I'm not very bright and especially not when I'm hungry.) The bottom of the window was at the top of my head, so I grabbed the sill and door handle and propped myself up.

No sooner did I get my eyes positioned to where I could see out to the hall, than was I suddenly and violently knocked back onto the floor of the cell, with the wind knocked out of me and my vision white. After about five or so minutes of dumbstruck recovery, I sat up and saw that the door to my cell was slightly open, with three small holes punched through the lock. There was also a large puddle of blood on the floor, and when I got closer I found the source- a dead guard laying right outside.

My heart was going nuts inside my chest. A dead guy. There was a dead guy right in front of me. But at the same time, my door was open, and I had a chance to run. I pulled the door open and ran out into the hall, almost slipping in the blood puddle. There was another dead guy in the hall, and I panicked thinking that the big one Stryker called Victor was the one who killed them. I did not want to be killed by him too, so I started running. I didn't know where I was going, I just tried to run away from places that I remembered Stryker's people taking me.

I ran down a hall and found a dead end, so I turned around and ran another way, but smacked into someone. I screamed when I saw what I had smacked into, and I really wish I hadn't. The guy was a monster, his bare chest covered in blood, some kind of robot head with a glowing red bar for an eye, and his arms... He had metal claws coming out of his arms, soaked with blood, and they were pointed right at me.

"KYAAH!"

I should have gotten up and ran, but I was paralyzed. He must have been the one who killed the guy outside my cell and broke the lock, and now he was going to kill me. I just curled into a ball and shivered, waiting for him to get it over with. But something strange happened; I thought I heard him sniffing, then all of a sudden he took off down the hall. I heard more faint screaming, like he found other guards to kill, so I slowly uncurled.

That was strange. I knew Stryker had monsters here, after all you'd have to be deaf to ignore the screams coming from the other cells in the place, and monster isn't a word strong enough to describe that Victor guy. But why would that claw monster let me go, when he clearly shredded every other thing he came across?

I heard a siren go off, waking me up and reminding me that I was trying to escape. So I kept running and snaking through hallways, trying to avoid the ones with the dead bodies. I eventually started going for the colder ones, figuring that cold would lead me outside. Boy was I ever right. I finally found a door that looked like an exit, and it lead to a snow field with trees in sight. I dashed outside, not even minding that I had no shoes, no coat, and I didn't even know where I was. Anywhere was better than this place.

I kept running towards the trees, ignoring the pain in my side from running and the rapidly growing numbness in my feet. I was so cold but I didn't care, I was out. The wind blew right through the thin covering I had on, my eyes were watering, nose running, and I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I finally reached the trees but collapsed shortly in. I huddled under a tree, coughing and shivering. Suddenly I realized that I might not be escaping.

I really hate the cold.

* * *

Logan stumbled through the trees, breathing still heavy from coming down out of his berserker rage inside the facility. His mind was still a bit of a blur, a combination of interference from that damned helmet and whatever that redhead did to shut it off. He leaned against a tree and tried to remember who he was. The name Logan seemed really familiar, but so did James. He felt like he had been through many battles, but he couldn't remember them. He became frustrated and punched the next tree, causing his claws to extend with a spurt of blood.

The claws he definitely remembered, but the metal he did not. Stryker did that, along with that helmet that scrambled his thoughts. Oh, if he ever caught the bastard...

Just then, Logan noticed a scent that didn't belong in the forest, and withdrew the other set of claws. Crouching down as his instincts told him to prepare for the strike, he realized he had smelled it before, back in the facility. It was close, so he followed the trail and prepared to strike. He tracked it to a tree a few feet away, and pounced-

Or he would have, if at the last second he hadn't realized it was a frozen kid. "What the hell?" Logan crouched down and brushed off the snow that had blown over her blue face. She looked like she had escaped from somewhere, and in the back of his mind he realized it had to have been the facility. Nowhere else was close enough, and besides, where else would he have caught her scent?

"Shame for ya to die out here," he mumbled, looking around to see if there was anywhere he could bury her. If she was brave enough to escape, the least she deserved was a funeral, he figured. Identifying a spot, he scooped her off the ground and carried her over. However, she suddenly sneezed as he was transporting her.

"Holy shit!" Logan exclaimed, nearly dropping the girl and almost skewering her arm as his claws popped out in surprise. She coughed and slowly opened her green eyes, focus lolling between Logan's face and the silver blades hovering in her periphery.

"...Kid? You alive?"

"Unh..." Elle turned back to the claws, before violently coughing. Afterward, Logan could hear how badly her lungs were struggling to take in air. "You... let me go... didn't kill me."

He tried to remember if he came across her in his rage, but it was useless. He could never remember anything the berserker did.

"Thank you..."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"I can die outside, not... in there," she mumbled, shivering from the cold. Logan's eyes went wide, and for the first time he noticed the fresh scar on her arm.

"...What were they doing to you, kid?"

Elle didn't answer, but rather shivered and drew tight to Logan's chest. He withdrew his claws and pulled her closer, sensing that she was after his body heat. Feeling a rare stab of compassion, Logan smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you. Come on, let's get you out of this snow."


	3. Kuzuri

I didn't expect to wake up after falling asleep in the snow, so it was a little surprising to open my eyes again. It was even more surprising to feel my hands and feet, and to realize that what I was seeing wasn't the whiteness of snow and tundra but the orange glow of a fire lit cave. I wiggled a little and realized this cave was real, not a mirage. And that's when I figured out I was buried under a pile of animal fur.

"You're awake a hell of a lot quicker than I thought you'd be."

Suddenly I was aware of a man sitting next to me, when he dug under the furs and pulled out my hand. "Hmm, your fingers are still a little cold. At least they're not black, though. Do you feel up to eating something?"

I recoiled a bit when I realized that the man was the monster from back at Stryker's base. His robot head and claws were gone, but he had the same bare chest and look of battle all over him. The difference though was that he had an air about him, almost like a sense of honor that even Stryker's unbelievable torture couldn't break.

"...You saved me?" I mumbled, though just barely with my dry and scratchy throat.

"Honestly, I was about to bury you when you started sneezing," he answered with a look of amusement. "I'm taking it from the way you were dressed and the circumstances you came to be out there, that bastard had you for experimenting." His amusement disappeared, and turned into what I think was rage. It was hard to tell because he was trying to keep as calm as possible, and I noticed his fist shaking like he was holding something back.

"I've been there since I was four."

I shouldn't have said that, because the fist he was shaking suddenly exploded with a splash of blood, and three silver blades shot out of his fist into the dirt. "What _the fuck_ was he doing to a kid so young?" he hissed through his clenched teeth, the rage starting to take over his face until even his eyes seemed to change from blue to gold.

"I... I don't know!" I mumbled in fright, withdrawing into the fur pile. "They told me I had something called a 'healing factor', and everyday they'd cut me and see how it healed. I don't know why!"

I started sniffling, so I didn't notice when he put his claws away or when his eyes changed back to normal until he got up and walked around the cave a little bit.

"Well if you can heal, that explains a few things," he said with a sigh, before sitting back down beside me. "I'm sorry for scaring you, kid. You mind letting me see that arm again?"

I nodded, and he pulled my arm back out to stare at the big scar. "If you can heal, then why do you have this big nasty scar? I saw a few others on you, too."

"I heard them say once that my healing ability is really weak compared to _his_ , whoever that is," I explained. "It takes a while for me to heal the small cuts they make, and the cuts that the big one they called Victor make never heal right."

"They were probably talking about me," he said, holding up his fist and showing me that there were no scars where the claws had come out. "I can heal too, almost instantly." He then frowned as he looked back at my arm, and scratched the hair at the side of his cheek. "You said someone named Victor did this to you?"

"I don't like him," I grumbled. "He always tortures me if I don't listen, and scratches me with his nails. He has long fingernails that are really sharp, and I never heal from what he does to me."

He looked like he was thinking something over, but shrugged it off. "Well he won't be doing it again, I can tell you that much. If I see him, I'll shove these in his gut." He then extended the claws again and made a toothy grin, before quickly withdrawing them. I think he knew they made me a little uncomfortable.

"So what's your name, kid? I probably shouldn't call you kid forever."

Huh? Oh, I guess I haven't told him that yet. "...Elle. I think I heard my mom say my last name is Shinobi but I was four when she died so I don't remember a lot about her. I do remember her bright blue eyes, though."

"Shinobi, huh? You're Japanese? I used to live in Japan. Funny how I remember that out of all the things I've forgotten. You can call me Logan. I'm not sure that's my real name but it sticks out in my mind."

"Nice to meet you, Logan," I said, and reached out to shake his hand since I felt a little better.

"Think you can eat something?"

I nodded, and wiggled my way out of the fur pile. I didn't think I had the strength to stand, but I could at least sit up. That was when I noticed exactly how strange our current situation was. We were in a cave with a little fire going, that much I already knew. But now I saw a pile of bones and animal guts in the corner, and a row of little skewers surrounding the fire with some kind of meat on them.

"Here," Logan said, handing me one of the smaller skewers. I hesitated, unsure of what it was, but eventually the smell of cooked meat got to my brain and my arms and mouth acted on their own. I was so hungry I didn't notice when I got down to the skewer until I heard a small snapping sound in my mouth.

"Ow! Huh?"

"Hmm? What now, kid?" Logan looked up from his own meat to see me rubbing a bloody lip, and laughed as he picked up a little white speck from the ground. "Heh, slow down kid, don't want to lose all these at once," he said as he placed one of my teeth in my palm.

"No! Put it back!" I yelped as I tried to stick the tooth back in my mouth. "Logan, help!"

"Hey, I ain't your tooth fairy, bub," he snorted. "It's a baby tooth, it's supposed to fall out. You already got a new tooth growing to take its place. Stop chewing on the bones and your other baby teeth will stay in until they're ready to fall out."

"Oh, okay." I turned back to my food, cheeks red in embarrassment.

"...We're staying in this cave long enough for you to get your strength back, then we're heading out to find a town. I'm sure you'd like to wear more than a prisoner gown and a few skinned furs."

That made sense. I looked down at the food and then the furs. "Did... did you do this? Make these blankets?"

He nodded. "Survival is man's first instinct, kid. It's also a hell of a lot easier when you've got claws."

Logan is like a wild animal trapped inside a human's body, I suppose. I don't think ripping apart a bear or a wolf to eat it and take its fur is something a normal person would think to do, but he did it without hesitation to help me. "You remind me of a story my mom told me once," I just blurted out, surprising him.

"And what story is that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

" _Kozure Ohkami_ , the wolf and his son. It was one of the last stories she ever told me, right after they caught us. She heard it from my father when she met him in Japan," I explained.

Logan chewed his skewer, intrigued. "Okay, let's hear it."

"There was a powerful warrior, who served as the executioner for the ruler of Japan. He was in charge of cutting off samurai's heads after they stabbed themselves."

"Fuck, _your mother_ told you this story?!"

"I'm not done," I pouted as he interrupted. "Anyway, one day he came home to find that someone had killed everyone but his baby son. The murderers then frame the warrior in a plot to kill the ruler of Japan. The warrior is removed from his position and condemned. The warrior decides to seek justice against those who have wronged him and his family, but before doing so, he sets his son on the floor between a ball and a sword. If the son goes to the ball, he'll kill him so that he can be with his mother. If he goes to the sword, he'll take him along on his mission."

"Let me guess, the kid goes for the sword."

I nodded. "The warrior takes his son with him as they seek revenge, but I never heard how the story ends. She didn't survive the experiments..."

"That story sounds a little familiar, I'm thinking the little guy got revenge for his father in the end," Logan supposed. "But once we get back into civilization, I'll help you get back into Japanese culture if you like. I'm thinking that since I lived there I must speak some of the language, so I'm sure a few days of poking through some books will wake me up. Why'd she tell you such a bloody story, anyway?"

"I think she was trying to make the most of the situation," I guessed. "She knew they were going to do nasty things to me, so maybe she wanted to show me that there is hope in grim places. It wouldn't have taken more than a second to kill the little boy, but no one did. And if you're right, he turned out to be the hero of the story."

"One small mistake cost them in the end," Logan mused. "Finish your food and go back to sleep. Get to healing and we'll be on the road in no time."

* * *

A/N: "Kuzuri" is actually the straight translation for the wolverine animal. I have the story planned out to the 2nd Wolverine movie, but the title doesn't really mean anything in relation to that. It's a play on Lone Wolf and Cub's Japanese title.


	4. Growing Up

A/N: This chapter is probably the weirdest one yet, and probably very out of character for Logan, but I needed it to establish a bond between him and Elle. **It's a little squicky** , especially since they get very close to a father/daughter relationship and I plan to later push them into lovers when she grows up.

Logan's going to give Elle the "girl talk". Awkwardly. So if you don't like hearing about monthlies, I won't blame you for skipping this chapter.

* * *

"So what's your plan, now?" I asked Logan as we stood in the shadows behind a large building, which he informed me was a bar. After about two days of walking, we finally found a town. I rode in on his back, holding onto his neck while he studied the people coming and going.

Without a word he put me down and motioned for me to be quiet, then moved to the edge of the building and watched as a heavyset guy stumbled over to a motorcycle parked just in front of us. When he got close enough Logan reached out and slugged him, knocking him cold before he even realized we were there.

Logan dragged the guy into the shadows and stole his coat, grimacing at how bad he stunk of beer and tobacco. "This shit was going to drive?" He took his hat, shirt, boots, wallet, and keys as well, then punched the guy again to make sure he stayed out. He put the boots and coat on himself, then came over to me. "Put this hat and shirt on."

"It's too big and it smells funny," I said once he threw the shirt over me. Even with the fur pelt he had wrapped around me for our trip through the forest, the shirt felt like it was going to fall off. Plus it went to my feet, and I could barely see the improvised shoes Logan had made for me.

"It's just temporary," he said as he went over and started the guy's motorcycle. "At least the fat fuck filled the gas tank." He looked over at me fiddling with the sleeves, and grumbled. "Damn. Okay kid, come here."

"What?" I looked up like I was in trouble.

"No, you didn't do anything. You're going to have to sit in front of me," he explained. "Your arms aren't long enough to reach around me from behind, and I don't have eyes in the back of my head to make sure you haven't fallen off."

"Is that safe?"

"Hell no. But we don't have a choice." He picked me up by my neck like a kitten, and I freaked out like a kitten, clinging to him and wrapping my arms and legs around his neck and waist. I even heard him chuckle as he tore out of the parking lot.

* * *

As I discovered in our little adventure, Logan knows a lot of things but he is an unusual teacher. It started when he found out I couldn't read. So I quickly learned the difference between the words bourbon and scotch, and why I wasn't supposed to touch either of them (or anything else I saw him drinking) apart from the time my back teeth came in.

Luckily I picked reading up with ease, which he appreciated because that meant I could finally help him fiddle with the various vehicles we picked up as we drifted along. Tiny hands come in handy, especially on motorcycle engines. I was helping him fix an old Harley when I got a stomach ache one day when I was twelve, and after going to the bathroom and screaming my head off, I learned another thing about Logan. He has a sensitive side.

He came running, claws out, and just about tore the door off the bathroom in the little cabin we were currently calling home. He saw me curled up in the corner staring at the trash can with tears in my eyes, and I watched from the corner of my eye as he leaned over and peeked inside. I immediately heard his claws retract, and him sigh.

"...Elle, come here. You don't have to say anything."

He used my name when he was serious, so I listened. What was that? Am I mutating again? Logan has two mutations, so far I only have one... I followed him to my room where he had me change my clothes, then we got in his truck and drove to the store. He bought a bottle of liquor, a few bottles of pills, and something else I didn't recognize. The cashier stopped when she scanned it, and looked at me.

"Aww, is this her first-"

"Shut your damned mouth, lady," Logan snarled, grabbing the stuff and his change and hurrying me out of the store. When we got back to the cabin, he sat me on the couch and gave me the bag.

"What's going on, Logan?" He usually doesn't like me touching his liquor.

"That... in there," he pointed to the bathroom, where I had thrown out my underwear. "That's normal. You're not sick, and you're not dying or mutating. You don't need to be afraid of it."

I could tell he was embarrassed talking about this, which confused me. Logan, the fearsome Wolverine, never got embarrassed. "What is it? Why am I bleeding then? I thought I healed like you do, just slower..."

"It's a girl thing," he said, kneeling next to me. "You know, like how girls have different bodies than men do. Girls have long hair on their heads, and soft, angel like blonde hair on the rest of their body. Some men end up looking like a damn bearskin rug like me when they take their shirt off."

I giggled a little, making him smile. He does look like a bear sometimes.

"Girls are the ones who give birth, you know that much. But, uh, there's a process involved."

"A process?"

"Yeah, well... You know what an egg is, right?"

"Logan, humans don't lay eggs. I know I didn't go to school, but I'm not that dumb."

He was getting frustrated, but I knew it wasn't with me. "The baby thing, see, your brain is thinking that it needs to get ready to grow a baby inside you. Does that make any sense?"

"I suppose..."

"So your body builds a little nest to grow the baby in, but then when it figures out you don't want a baby, it destroys the nest. That's why you're bleeding." Logan scratched his head. "I know twelve seems a little young for a baby, but that's just how it is."

"Why doesn't my body just build one nest and keep it until I decide to have a baby?"

I think I got him with my question, because it took a little bit for him to answer. "Well, the nests only last a few weeks at a time. I think the whole cycle is only about a month."

"You mean this is going to happen every MONTH?!" My eyes started watering, and before I knew it Logan had pulled me into an embrace.

"Hey Elle, it's okay. I know there's a lot of rough shit women have to go through, and no it's not fair that you have to do this twelve times a year for the rest of your life. I'm not sure why your healing ability doesn't stop it or the pain, but that's what this is for." He held up the bag. "You put the napkins in your underwear to keep blood from getting everywhere. You can try these pills for the pain, though anesthesia doesn't work on me so they might not do anything for you. If they don't, I'm pretty sure the vodka will."

I took the bag from him and smiled. He could have just handed me a book and told me to figure things out on my own, but instead he talked me through it. "...Thank you, Logan."

"Don't sweat it, kid," he said with a smile, ruffling my hair as he stood up. As he went to leave the room, I couldn't resist teasing him.

"Hey Logan, seeing as I'm a woman now, aren't you gonna tell me how to _make_ the baby?"

As he turned back and leered at me, I could barely contain my laughter.


	5. The Flower That Blossomed

A/N: A big thank you to everyone who's taken a chance on this story so far! I'm glad I could be entertaining, especially since I'm not used to working with these characters. I welcome your comments as always. :)

* * *

I think I'm in love with Logan.

I mean, I've been with him for the last nine years of my life and he's the only family I have, so I know I love him in that regard. But lately I've found myself paying attention to him in ways I never did before. Like how he'll walk around in the morning without a shirt before he goes to work. Or how he occasionally licks his lips as he chews on those nasty cigars. The worst one though, is how he sneaks out at night when he thinks I'm asleep, and comes back smelling like a brawl and cheap perfume.

He didn't used to do things like that last one, I wonder what changed? As far as I know he still has the same lumber mill job... I know he doesn't really like it, but we needed money somehow and stealing wasn't exactly a good idea for a guy and a child to do.

"...Hey, kid," Logan mumbled as he came into the kitchenette, then stopped and looked me up and down. I was just standing there wearing one of his old flannel shirts and a pair of pajama shorts, my usual nightwear. I tried to save money in case we had to flee.

"Aren't you cold?" I thought I heard him say as he went for the coffee, and I swear I saw him spike it with something.

"Cold? It's warm outside," I pointed to the sun beaming through the window. "Besides, you're the one in nothing but cutoffs." I had to fight back a blush as I said it; Logan wasn't fond of undergarments, something I discovered once I became in charge of the laundry. On warm nights, he probably slept without any clothes on.

"Something wrong with that?"

Logan's voice knocked me out of my thoughts, and when I tried to recover I accidentally knocked my water glass to the floor. "Shit... Uh, no, not at all. I'll clean this up, go change, then I'll pack your lunch for today."

"You're not my wife."

"Huh?" I looked up from the floor to see him holding his cooler and rummaging around the cupboards. "I said I'll do that..."

"You don't have to. You do too much around here," he said, putting the cooler on the table.

I don't understand this. "...What else am I supposed to do?" I asked as I stood up. "You go out and earn all the money, you found this cabin, and you're the one who said I need to stay inside and only go out if I'm with you."

"Well yeah, look at you, sixteen going on twenty one! You go out looking like that, there'll be all kinds of assholes lusting after you."

Logan may be a tough man to read, but after all the time we've spent together, I like to think that I've gotten pretty good at interpreting his little snorts and grumbles. And I think this grumble was less fatherly and more territorial. Regardless, it made me upset. And when I'm upset, I tend to make mistakes. "I'm not allowed outside, but you can go out and come back smelling like a bar and cheap hookers?"

"...What is _that_ supposed to mean?" His hand twitched, and as his eyes narrowed I swear his irises flickered. Oh shit. That meant his control was slipping. Not here, not now...

"I... I didn't mean anything by it..."

"Don't lie to me," he snapped. "Are you _jealous_? You just said I do all the work around here, now I'm not entitled to a reward for my efforts? You want me all to yourself, is that it? Eh?"

He moved toward me, and out of fear for his feral side, I backed up. But I forgot about the water I had spilled, and slipped and fell right onto my behind. I hissed as I accidentally drove a large piece of the broken glass into my palm during the fall, and the pain made my eyes water. It must have nicked a vessel, because there was blood all over my hand once I pulled it out.

I sensed Logan stiffen, and when I looked up he was staring at the blood with a horrified look on his face. His eyes -blue eyes- were wide, and he quickly backed off and returned to his room. I just sat there stupefied for a moment staring at the ground, processing everything, and didn't even notice him come back out until he was already outside starting his truck.

After all that, he didn't even take his lunch with him.

* * *

Thirty six hours.

Did he think he hurt me, is that why he hasn't come back? I slipped and fell on a glass, the cut was even gone before I got changed out of the bloody shirt. Sure, I might have been a little jealous that he felt the need to sneak out in the middle of the night instead of just saying 'hey kid, I'm going out for a little while, don't wait up', but it wasn't anything to go feral over. And sure, I developed a little, but everyone does. It's not like I'm going to go stand on a street corner...

I rolled over on the couch that I had camped on waiting for him to return, trying not to stare at the clock anymore, when I suddenly got a horrible thought. What if the reason he didn't come back was because he got _caught_? No, I couldn't afford to think like that. Logan told me once that what they did to him made him practically invincible, and nothing would take him down. Besides, they wouldn't find us here. I know Canada's big, and we've driven a long ways from that place. We haven't even done anything to draw attention.

That left one other thought, that he just didn't want to come back. But why? Am I in his way? He can't bring a girl home because of me, is that it? But earlier he when he said "You're not my wife," it was almost like he didn't want me taking care of him. Lone wolf, I get that. But even wolves have packs. And mates...

He has been a little distant lately. He doesn't ask for my help fiddling with his motorcycle as much as he used to. Whenever he sits on the couch listening to his games on the radio, I used to sit beside him and read. A lot of the time, especially when I was younger, I would end up falling asleep and he'd have to take me to bed. But lately if I sit beside him, he scoots away or finds some excuse to get up.

I guess the novelty of having a companion wore off for him. I wonder where he went? I briefly considered going into his room to see if there would be a clue, but he told me never to go in there, _especially_ while he was asleep. There might be a real reason, who knows, but I was pretty sure it was just because of his nightmares; he thinks I don't know about them, but it's hard not to. I don't know exactly why he's antsy about them, only that they're one of the few sore subjects he doesn't want to talk about. If I had to guess, I'd say they were about his past. He still doesn't remember all of it...

The creak of the door startled me out of my thoughts, and I sprung up and looked toward the entryway. "Logan! About time, you worried me sick, not coming home last night." I ran over to turn the light on, and that was when I noticed something was wrong. Logan is the same height as me. The shadow in the doorway was a good foot taller.

And there were five long claws at the ends of its fingertips.


	6. Blood Trail

A/N: I fought with this chapter, but I think I'm finally satisfied with it. I tried to be as descriptive as I could with the action, so I hope you get the same mental vision I had while I was writing. :) Warning to everyone, it is more than a little violent (this is Wolverine we're talking about) and one of the characters threatens rape.

Also, near the end of the chapter Logan is going to do something REALLY STUPID and I hope that no one out there ever tries to replicate what he is doing. Logan and Elle are mutants. We are not. Please don't do what Logan is trying to do. There are real applications for what he is attempting, and they do not involve pvc tubing and a bottle of everclear.

* * *

Logan swore as he got back in his truck, and looked at the clock on the dashboard. Midnight, the day after he stormed out on Elle. In the almost nine years he'd been with her he's never left her alone this long, and knowing her she's probably worried sick about where he's gone.

She wouldn't understand the reason why he had to get out of there, though. When Logan saw the blood on Elle's hand, he realized just how close he came to lashing out at her. Elle had tears in her eyes, and for the first time since the night in the cave, he could smell fear on her. The little girl he found in the snow and raised into a woman was afraid of _him_.

But that was the other part of why he had to go clear his head- Elle wasn't that little girl anymore, and the Wolverine was starting to notice. Being that she was half Japanese, she wasn't overly gifted in the chest, but her waist was skinny and it gave her a cute hourglass shape. What made her stand out, though, was her legs. She was only five feet tall, but her legs were long and slender like those of a runway model. With her pale skin, dark chocolate hair, and rare green eyes, she was attractive without any effort.

It didn't help Logan's control either that Elle had a minimal sense of modesty. Most of her clothing was too small for her, because she "wouldn't waste money on new ones", so she let her hips and thighs hang out like she did yesterday. And then when she wore one of his shirts, covered in his scent, pouting over him taking lovers besides her...

 _That's not what she meant_ , he chastised himself, gripping the steering wheel in anger. This was dangerous. Right now, if things continued unchecked, Logan feared he would lose control and cross the line. Elle meant too much to him to risk hurting her, after all he had grown fond of the kid in more ways than one. That was why he forbid her from entering his bedroom, because he didn't want to hurt her during one of his nightmares.

Elle though had grown into a woman, and was starting to act more like an adult. Her budding sexuality aside, she took on the roles that a woman of the house would do, and though she never seriously argued with him, she kept their conversations interesting enough that Logan wondered if an enhanced intellect was part of her mutation. All this screamed in his head that she'd be a perfect mate, and the Wolverine kept telling him to quit stalling and claim her.

 _I can't do that_ , he grumbled _. She's just a hormonal teenage girl, upset that I've kept her secluded. Fuck, I'm no different than Stryker keeping her in that cell._ Logan had his suspicions that Stryker wanted her not only for her mutation, but for some sick breeding experiment. And now here he was, thinking of taking her and making her his mate. Sure, Elle had feelings for him going off of that jealousy he picked up, but it's probably some kind of screwed up Electra complex. She didn't really want him, he was just the only man around.

He'll just have to go back and explain to her that they needed to stay platonic.

 _What the fuck do you think you're gonna do, waltz in and say "hey kid, you're smokin' hot as an adult and I can tell you feel it too, but this ain't gonna work so scram?" Good luck._

Logan growled at himself for being right, and tried to come up with another plan. At the very least he needed to go home and make sure she was alright. Tomorrow he'd take her to get clothes that fit her, that would probably help calm him down as well. And he certainly wouldn't desert her; apart from being an incredibly cowardly act, she had nowhere to go and depended on him to protect her from mutant hunters.

As Logan drove toward the cabin, he sensed something off and stopped. For a second he thought he smelled blood, but when he tried to identify the source it was gone. Thinking it was a only wild animal he started toward the cabin again, when it hit him. That smelled like Elle's blood.

Logan jammed the accelerator to the floor and sped to the cabin, arriving to find it dark and with the door wide open. When he jumped out from the truck, the scent of blood hit him like a brick wall, and without hesitation he withdrew his claws. He was reluctant to give in to his feral side before he knew what was going on, so he slowly crept into the cabin.

The first thing that caught Logan's attention was the large blood splatter on the wood right behind the couch, and the small bloodstain on its corner. There was a scrap of clothing in the splatter, and he didn't have to guess who it belonged to. His heart rate increased as he followed a trail of blood from the couch to the kitchenette table, which was covered in blood and scraps of clothing.

"No..."

A look to the right revealed another trail of blood to a broken coffee table in front of the couch, which had a final trail leading away from the main room towards Elle's bedroom. He could see a faint light down the hall, and could tell by the scent trail that someone was in there. Unfortunately he couldn't tell if Elle was inside or not, because her scent was all over the house.

Logan slid along the wall in the hallway, poised to strike as soon as he reached the doorway. He felt a stab of guilt as he looked down at the blood illuminated on the floor by the light escaping through the door crack, but put it aside as he glanced through. He saw someone leaning over her bed, and when the figure shifted, a small bloody hand...

With a roar, Logan burst through the door and buried his claws in the man by the bed, tackling him and knocking the two to the floor. The man quickly recovered and grabbed Logan, digging ten sharp fingernails into his shoulders.

"Ah, there's Sir Galahad, I wondered what was taking so long..." Sabretooth grinned before rolling and throwing Logan into a dresser on the other side of the room. "You're losing your touch Jimmy, I almost had to get started without you."

Logan hissed as he charged again. "Creed, you're the sick son of a bitch that helped Stryker torture her!" Sabretooth ducked his first swipe, but Logan caught him with his other hand. As he swung, he got a glimpse of Elle on the bed. She was absolutely covered in blood, stripped to her underwear, and he could barely hear her labored breathing.

"Wake up, runt."

Nails in the gut and a slash across the face brought Logan back to the fight, but Sabretooth still had the upper hand because of Logan's distraction. He shoved him with his shoulder, and dug into his sternum. "Still into the Japanese girls, huh Jimmy? You know, she had an interesting response when I told her I intended to make you watch while I _deflowered her_."

That made Logan roar in fury, and he drove his claws into Sabretooth's ribcage. He made a kick for his groin and was blocked, so using the edge of the bed as leverage, he hopped up and used all his weight to curl and spring Sabretooth across the room into the wall.

"She said you beat me to the punch," Sabretooth taunted as he struggled against Logan's hold. "Little liar said your dick is as thick as a soda can."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Logan withdrew an arm from his opponent's ribs with the aim of driving it into his throat, but Sabretooth used the reduction in pressure against the wall to his advantage. He raked his nails across Logan's eyes, then while Logan was doubled over, he quickly withdrew a knife from his pocket and whipped it at the bed.

The knife embedded in one of Elle's knees, drawing a weak whine from her. Logan took Sabretooth's bait and ran over to assist her, giving him a chance to ram through the window and escape.

Logan did not pursue, there would be time for revenge later. He had to figure out how to help Elle, and quick. The knife had hit an artery, and while not a major vessel, she was badly bleeding. He started with the knife, using the remains of a pillow case as a wound pad as he pulled the knife out. Enough pressure stopped the bleeding, possibly because it was a clean and fresh cut. He then wrapped it as tight as he could with one of Elle's scarves.

Surveying the rest of the damage, it appeared that Sabretooth had dug his nails through every patch of skin he could find, paying extra attention to her midriff and the top of her breasts. He hated to think about what her back might look like. There were scabs of varying degrees all over her, suggesting that Sabretooth had been at it for some time.

 _This is all my fault, if only I had come back last night_ , he cursed himself. He hated to do it, but he lifted Elle's undergarments and checked her for signs of assault. She was clean, thankfully. He ran and got a tub of warm water, and started washing the blood from her body. He found several wounds that didn't seem to be closing, and worried that her healing factor was exhausted.

After cleaning her off as best he could, Logan picked Elle up and took her into his bedroom. It was the one place in the cabin that wasn't doused in blood, and he didn't want Elle seeing all that when she came around. _That includes you_ , he realized, noticing just how much copper and sweat he was covered in.

Logan grabbed one of his well worn flannel shirts and carefully dressed Elle in it, hoping that his scent would calm her down when she woke. He tucked her in to keep her warm, then went to clean himself off. Logan left the door to the bathroom open, so he could see Elle on the bed. She probably wouldn't wake up for days, but he wanted her to know she wasn't alone.

While in the shower, Logan debated whether he should take Elle to a hospital. He could tell her wounds weren't healing the way they should be, and there was enough blood coating the cabin to fill a dishwasher. But if he did that, they'd find out she was a mutant. Logan knew his blood type wasn't the same as a normal human's, and it was very likely that Elle's wasn't either. He could always try a field transfusion, he saw them do that once back in one of the wars...

When he was finished, he threw a pair of pants on and sat next to Elle on the bed. Her breathing was very shallow, her skin almost colorless, and her heartbeat faint. Mind made up, Logan went out to his toolbox and came back with a package of tubing, then grabbed the bottle of Everclear hidden under the bed.

"I can hear you yelling at me already kid, and you're a hundred percent right," he said as he rolled up her sleeve and wiped her arm with the alcohol. He stood and did the same to his wrist and one of his claws, then slit an opening along the artery and shoved the tube in. He let his skin heal around the intrusion to hold the tube in place, and hurried to find a vein in Elle's arm. He cursed as he spilled blood all over himself in the meantime, but located it and gently made an incision.

"Alright, you're gonna have to scream at me if I'm doing this wrong," Logan mumbled, inserting the tube and watching for any signs of an allergic reaction. If his theory that they had the same blood type was wrong, shit could go south really quick and he would have no choice but to take her to a hospital.

After a few minutes had passed with no adverse reaction, Logan checked Elle's heart rate. She was steady, and her color around the incision was definitely an improvement. So he sat down on the bed, and settled in for how ever many hours his body could take of this before his own healing factor gave in and knocked him out.


	7. Transfused

They say when you are about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. I say that's bullshit. When I came out from behind the couch and saw that shadow in the door, I didn't see my past summed up in a matter of seconds. I saw my future, and how it was about to be curtailed in the worst of ways by a creep I thought I'd never see again.

I turned and ran back, trying to get to the side door at the end of the bedroom hallway. But the bastard was too quick for me, and I had just reached the couch again when he slashed at the back of my knee. It stopped me so quickly I bashed my head off the corner of the couch, and I crumpled to the floor in a bloody heap. The pain in my leg was unbearable to begin with, but the impact on the couch gave me a concussion so bad I couldn't see, hold my head up, or hear anything besides general noises.

The monster who attacked me paced back and forth for a little bit, then grabbed me and dragged me to what I think was the kitchen table. He tore off my clothes and began his assault, dragging fire across every inch of skin he could find. I lost track of how long this went on, though I remember distracting him long enough to scurry away. That's how I ended up thrown into the coffee table.

When he was either bored or fed up with carving me like a turkey, he dragged me away to my bedroom where he intended to force himself on me. He even said he was going to make Logan watch...

I snapped at this point. I had been hanging on by thinking of Logan, but hearing his name spewed out of that monster's mouth was the breaking point. The monster wanted my maidenhood, as if taking it was some kind of trophy. So I told him Logan already got it. He's the only person I would mate with, anyway. Then to rub it in, I bragged about Logan's size. I've never seen Logan naked from the front, but I have a good imagination. And oh boy, did I piss that monster off. Instead of using his claws, he cracked me in the face with his fist.

What a way to go, killed over a penis joke. I sure as hell hope that bastard didn't desecrate my corpse, that would absolutely break Logan when he found me. I feel bad, knowing that we parted after a fight and I didn't get to say goodbye. Hell, I didn't even get to kiss him on the lips like a proper woman. Or, you know...

I felt a rather strong blush come to my face, which startled me because dead people sure as hell don't blush. That's when I realized that my entire body felt warm, and not just my cheeks. I became aware of a weight atop me, like a blanket, and could feel a little sensation in my fingertips and toes. That's when I opened my eyes.

It was a little bit of a struggle, but I finally came to. And the first thing I noticed was Logan, sitting at my side with his eyes closed. There was a long red tube coming out of his wrist going into my arm, and it took me a second to realize it was blood inside the tube. What the fresh hell was he doing?

Just then he cracked an eye open and caught me looking at him, and smirked. "There you go, waking up earlier than you should again." He leaned over me and pressed two fingers to my neck, feeling for my pulse. His face was so close to mine, I couldn't help myself...

"Logan," I whispered out of longing, though my voice was so hoarse I doubt I even made a sound. I was so glad I lived to see him again that I ignored the pain, and tried to move my fingers. He figured out what I was trying to do though, and held my hand.

"You gotta stay still, darlin," he said, letting our foreheads touch. I just closed my eyes and took him in, grateful for what he's done for me and finally convinced that my feelings for him were not misguided. When I opened them, he was looking down at me with a gentle gaze. "I almost thought this transfusion wasn't gonna work. You have no idea how relieved I am that you've woken up."

Very gently, Logan moved in and pressed a light yet tender kiss to my lips. He held it for a few moments, and I think I melted in the meantime. If I wasn't on death's doorstep, I'd have pounced on him.

Logan brushed my cheek, then sat up and pulled the tube out of our arms and tossed it away. "I think four hours is enough of that." He pinched the cut in my arm shut, and I watched as it stitched itself closed right in front of my eyes. "Interesting, huh? It probably did that because of all my blood cells hovering around the incision," he explained.

As he got up off the bed he stumbled a bit and growled, and he even expelled his claws into the wall to keep from falling over. "God damn it," he mumbled under his breath, making me realize that this impromptu blood transfusion drained a lot out of him and his healing hadn't quite caught up to it. Plus who knows how much energy he used getting rid of that monster. He needed to rest.

"Logan," I called as loud as I could, barely a whisper yet enough for him to hear. He looked up and turned back to the bed, so I motioned with my eyes for him to lay down. He didn't understand, so I tried to speak. That didn't work either.

"It's okay, Elle, just gonna grab something from the kitchen."

"...No, bed, " I just barely managed to wheeze out, making him raise his eyebrow. After a sigh he conceded, and laid down beside me.

"Not a good idea, kid," he mumbled in protest, though for once I could tell he was full of shit. He liked being close to me, evidenced by how quickly he wrapped his arm around my shoulders when I tried to lean closer to him. His scent was already comforting to me, but having it this close was a solid reminder that I was alive because of this man, and that he would protect me from further harm. Content, I closed my eyes and smiled.

* * *

Logan watched as Elle laid her head on his shoulder, and drifted back off to sleep. He knew sleeping beside her was a bad idea, but couldn't resist the tired look she gave him. He had the lascivious Wolverine under control for now; it wasn't exactly easy with all the pheromones she was giving off. After all, the kid's a lovesick kitten and it's clear now that she's thoroughly imprinted on him. But what he was afraid of was accidentally hurting her if he had another nightmare. He didn't need another injury on his conscience.

 _I'll just meditate for a little bit instead_ , he said to himself, closing his eyes and focusing on Elle's breathing. Her breathing turned out to be too hard for even a disciplined warrior of Logan's caliber to handle, however, and he was eventually lulled to sleep.

* * *

A/N: It's subtle, but did you notice the shift in Elle's personality between this chapter and the previous? Wonder where that came from? ;)


	8. Convalescence

A/N: Just a reminder, Elle is at least sixteen and a half years old at this point.

* * *

"You weren't actually _drinking_ that, were you?"

Logan raised his eyebrow as I pointed across his chest, to the bottle of grain alcohol sitting on the night table. "...I used that as a disinfectant for the transfusion."

"You needed half a liter for that?"

Busted, he grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth with a grin. "You wormed your way into my room, tricked me into sleeping next to you, and now you're after my alcohol," he joked, kissing my knuckles. "I take back what I said, maybe you are my wife..."

"Is that an offer?"

Logan's eyes went wide for a moment, before turning to a leer. "You've got a mouth on you, kid, I'll give you that." But my smile melted him eventually, and his expression softened. "You sure this relationship is what you want, Elle? I mean, how do you know you really-"

"You already know I think about you when I'm in the shower," I blurted out, shutting him up real quick. He'd have to be stupid not to know that- the bathroom in the cabin has two doors, one to the hall and the other to his bedroom. He has enhanced senses, too, so if I can hear him sneaking back in from the bar, he can hear me fooling around in the shower.

It's all his fault, too. He came in one warm day after working on his motorcycle, wearing nothing but an old ripped up pair of jeans that had lost the button. He just laid on the couch and went to sleep, and I came in and found him there. For a fourteenish year old girl who had been reading cheap Harlequin books all day, finding a half-naked guy that blew the cover models out of the water was a little too much.

"I take it back, the two of us are stuck together," Logan smirked. "Thought I was in the wrong for teaching a little girl how to rip apart an engine, or for not watching my mouth around you, and yet you turned out perfectly. Dirty mind and all."

I laughed, and playfully bonked his shoulder. "For the record, you're not supposed to give little girls those trashy romance books, either." We'd been like this since I woke, just lying in bed talking and enjoying each other's warmth. I couldn't move much more than my arms and neck anyway, and being how slow I was to heal, this small progress was probably thanks to Logan's blood cells working their way through me. Everything still hurt, but the pain was muted compared to last night.

Logan rolled over and kissed me, then slid out of bed. "Let me go see what I can find for you in the kitchen. You'll heal better with some nutrition in you." He was out the door before I could even protest, and he shut the door on me, too. Rude! The grimace on his face when he came back spoke volumes, though, so I didn't push too hard.

"What's wrong?"

"Daylight," he mumbled, and I realized the cabin must look like the set of a horror movie. It would probably never come clean. Logan dumped a handful of cans and boxes on the floor, and helped me drink a bottle of water. After that I tried a few crackers and some gummy worms, but I really had no appetite. I'll have to work my way back up to it.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked, as Logan removed the blanket from the bed and started looking over my stomach and legs. I noticed a scarf wrapped around one knee that wasn't there before, and of course the other leg was the one that got mauled. Great, so I wouldn't be walking around anytime soon.

"We'll have to rabbit again," he answered with a lot of irritation in his voice, not at me of course, but at the whole situation. We both hated running. He started his check with the scarf leg and unwrapped it, revealing a rust colored square of cloth underneath. "Well, it doesn't look like it bled anymore, but the wound hasn't completely sealed. Creed embedded a knife in your knee before he took off," he explained as he folded up a new cloth and rewrapped my leg.

"Creed?"

Logan sighed. "...Victor Creed, that's the bastard's name. He goes by Sabretooth. I have a bit of a history with him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the reason Stryker managed to capture me in the first place. He went after you because he knows I care about you."

So that's why Logan paused all those years ago when I said his name. "I didn't know you when he used to torture me, though," I reminded him. "I think he's sour we got away."

"That's not it," Logan said, sitting down beside the bed. "Creed is a sadist. He slaughters women and children for fun, and any time I've shown interest in a woman, he's deliberately made her a target. He could have killed you at any moment last night, but he wanted to do it in front of me. He wanted me to know it was him."

"...What a prick."

Logan looked back at me in disbelief. "Did you not take anything I just said seriously?"

"Of course I did, Logan," I answered, tugging on his arm to get him back on the bed. "And I hope you realize he's trying to get you to think you're destined to be alone. Who knows, maybe he's even got a closeted thing for you going on..."

"What the hell?"

"Well, he can't have you, you're mine!" I laughed as I finally got Logan back onto the bed, and he rolled overtop of me while making a crack about how the sugar in the gummy worms went straight to my head. I shut him up by pulling our faces together.

"Tend to wounds now, playtime later," Logan said after pulling away, but I promptly protested. I pulled him back and nuzzled against his cheek, drawing my breath against his ear. It must have turned him on immensely, because the next thing I knew, he bit down sharply on my neck.

"Ahh!"

Logan pulled back and looked at me, and I could tell he was having a similar reaction like he did with the broken glass. So I kept my hands locked around his neck, and quickly licked the blood off his lips.

"Bad Wolverine," I said with a smirk.

"I didn't mean..."

"Oh shush, it didn't hurt that bad." It sorta did, but hopefully he's still too shocked to pick up my lie. "So I'm 'marked' now, huh? Wonder if it'll leave a-"

Logan and I both jumped a little, as right that moment there was a knock on the door. Not the front door, either, the side door right next to the bedroom. Out of precaution Logan popped his claws, while I hid under the pillow.

"Maybe they'll go away..." I whispered, but after a few moments the knock came again.

"Stay calm..." Logan cautioned, and moved to the window. Once he looked out, he scoffed and retracted the claws on one hand.

"Who is it?"

"Uhh, well it's a blue sasquatch, a dude with gray hair, and a guy in a wheelchair..."

* * *

A/N: Logan is totally the type of guy that would come across those smutty books in the grocery store and think "oh, these must be okay for my little girl at home to read, they have horses and flowers and shit on the cover". XD


	9. The Professor

A/N: A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'll admit I was a little stumped at how Logan would react when first seeing Hank, then I just thought "Hmm, Canada, Saskatchewan, sasquatch!" XD

(And if you're wondering why Logan would have a gun in the next paragraph, he only had it for Elle's sake. As if Logan would ever need a gun. :P)

* * *

Logan tensed at the third knock on the door, and decided that he was going to have to answer it. They certainly weren't there to kill them, after all, who would send a man in a wheelchair for an assassination? Besides, the bald guy looked _slightly_ familiar, and if Logan was the reason he was in the chair, well... he didn't want to get into a fight with Elle in this condition. He'd just go see what they wanted and get them the hell out of there.

"Elle, I'll go get rid of them. Here," Logan dug a bundle out of his dresser and laid it on the bed next to her, just in case. "Think you can handle that?"

Elle's eyes widened as she unwrapped an old Browning HP service pistol. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Hopefully nothing," he answered, and threw a shirt on before moving out into the hall. Keeping the hand with the claws out of view, he cracked open the door and peeked out.

"What do you want?"

The guy and the blue man stood up straight, as the man in the wheelchair did the talking. "Ah, Mr. Logan, my name is Charles Xavier, and these are my associates Hank McCoy and Peter Maximoff. You and I have met before, do you remember?"

"No and I don't care. Get lost."

"Well someone's got a stick up his ass."

Logan was about to close the door, but hearing the kid mutter that under his breath pissed him off. "Hey bub, you want these stuck up YOUR ass?" He swung the door open the rest of the way, revealing his other hand.

"WOAH, when did those go from bone to badass? You get 'em upgraded? Super sharp? Coo." The guy was beside him in the blink of an eye and flicked his finger against one, until a growl from Logan sent him running back to his original position.

"Peter, that's enough," Charles ordered, and turned back to Logan. "Logan, we're here because I sensed that something distressful has happened recently, and we'd like to offer our assistance."

"What do you mean you 'sensed' something?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow at the bald man in the wheelchair.

 _We're just like you, Logan_ , Charles answered telepathically, making Logan take a step back.

"Stay out of my head," he growled in warning, to which Charles nodded. "What were you doing in there for, to begin with?"

"We're trying to help our own kind," Hank, the blue one spoke up. "Professor Xavier runs a school for people like us, which also functions as a sort of safe house. If you remembered meeting us, you'd know that."

Logan smirked. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting a giant blue furball. And him," he looked at Peter, "space cadet over there doesn't ring a bell."

"We owe a debt to you, Logan, and we'd like to repay it. And from what I..." Since it was a sore subject, Charles tried to word his mental probing another way. "From what I _gather_ , you are currently in need of medical services."

Logan stiffened. "I told you to stay out of my head."

"I can smell the blood from here, Logan," Hank spoke up. "Let me in, I can help. I'm a doctor and I can perform surgery if needed."

"And if you need stuff, I can go get it," Peter piped in, a bag of supplies appearing in his hands midsentence.

Reluctantly, Logan moved aside and let them into the cabin. He could tell that the one called Charles wasn't lying when he said he met him before and owed a debt to him, and if the gray haired nut knew he had bone claws and lived to fight another day, well, maybe there was something to these guys. "I don't know you and I don't trust _any_ of you, so I won't hesitate to skewer you if I sense something is off..."

"Understandable," Charles said as Logan led them into the bedroom. Elle had managed to sit herself up a little bit and watched as Logan led the strangers into the room, but yelped and hid behind a pillow once she spotted Hank.

* * *

I heard Logan talking outside with those strangers, but I never thought he'd bring them in the house. The door to the bedroom opened and Logan came in, followed by the man in the wheelchair. He looked kind, and had a sense of authority to him. Then came a real space cadet looking type, who couldn't keep his eyes in one place. Okay... But after that, a giant walking big foot! I shrieked and hid under the pillow, causing the space cadet to laugh and Logan to come comfort me. The wheelchair man and the big foot both chastised the space cadet, though, so that was kind.

"Elle, it's okay, he won't hurt you. _Right?_ " Logan sneered at the big foot, until he came over and introduced himself.

"No, of course not! Hello Miss Elle, my name is Dr. Hank McCoy, and this is Professor Charles Xavier and Peter. We'd like to help you with your wounds if you don't mind."

This guy's a doctor? Looking like that, I'm surprised they didn't lynch him before he finished medical school. Mutant hate is strong. "What are you a doctor of?"

"Well, actually I have a PhD and not an MD," he explained, coaxing an 'aw geez' out of Logan. "But I studied biophysics, and graduated from Harvard when I was fifteen. Biophysics and medicine are very close disciplines."

" _Masaka_... Well that's a lot better than me, I never went to school." I looked at Logan and got his approval, so I told the beast man to go ahead.

"You're bilingual, that's something, isn't it?" Hank said, looking me over. He paused in alarm at the bloody bite mark at my neck, but shied away at the dirty looks me and Logan gave him. I'm sure a beast like him can recognize what it meant. "Peter, go get my supply bag, and the two first aid kits from the jet," he said after a gulp. Peter nodded, and zipped out in a blur. Speed demon? He returned in seconds with an armful of supplies.

Hank continued surveying my injuries, so I just kept talking. "Logan taught me how to read English and what he could remember of spoken Japanese, and I did the rest with some books." I nodded towards him, catching a smile as he stuck his pistol back in the drawer.

"You have a very sharp intellect, Elle," Charles added. "It's a shame you never had the chance to take classes and grow your mind. You are more than welcome to enroll in my school, if you like."

"And be a seventeen year old sitting in a room full of children?" I shook my head. "Besides, I go where Logan goes. It's always been that way, and it's not gonna change."

"It still can be that way," Charles said, turning to Logan. "That's another reason we've come here, I wanted to ask you to come teach at my school, Logan."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Me, a teacher? Ha! That's a good one."

"You taught Elle how to read, doesn't that count for anything?"

"Elle is unique," Logan countered. "Besides, there's a difference in teaching one kid versus a whole classroom full of brats."

Charles sighed. "In the very least, I can offer you a safe place to call home. You were planning on running when Elle was healed, weren't you." I don't think Logan liked that insinuation, because he scowled and straightened up.

"You certainly can't stay in Jason Voorhees' cabin," Peter mumbled, motioning to the living room and earning quite the death glare from Logan. "I can barely stand it and I'm in here."

"I highly recommend you consider it," Hank added, having made his way from my right leg to my left. "The damage to this leg is much worse than the other one. I can patch it up for now, but I'd prefer to do it back in the lab. Elle, you might need reconstructive surgery, not to mention rehabilitation if you ever plan to walk again."

Lab? As in laboratory? _Experimenting?_ I started quivering, causing Logan to snarl and protectively wrap his arms around me.

"What did I say?!" Hank yelped as he backed off, but Charles grabbed his shoulder. Right after that, I heard a voice in my head.

 _It's okay, Elle, we're not going to experiment on you or take you back to that facility. We just want to help you._

I looked over and realized it was Charles, though his mouth hadn't moved. So he's a telepath, is that it? Rather than get Logan involved I decided to fight my own battle, and responded in my head. _You want to help us? Why? Why not help the other mutants who can't help themselves? Logan and I are perfectly capable of living on our own, we made it this far._

 _I owe Logan a debt, and I'd like to repay him. By extension, I'd like to help you as well._

 _He doesn't know you, though. He remembers a lot of his past, but you're not a part of it._

 _That's part of the reason why I owe him. I am indirectly responsible for the circumstances that led to his capture, and I need to make it up to him._

 _What's to stop me from telling him this?_

 _Nothing, I suppose. But believe me when I say that the path before you now could lead to a much easier life than the path you were on before._

 _...What makes you think you can make our lives any easier? A home and an education may appeal to me, but there's a part of Logan that even I don't fully understand. He's not going to be satisfied by playing house. How do you intend to help him?_

 _I can give Logan a purpose. My school doesn't just teach mutants, we protect them. Logan is a lone wolf now, but he doesn't need to stay that way. Wouldn't it be nice to have a family?_

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and opened them to find Logan and Hank howling at each other. Not howling in the literal sense, just arguing. But it was like a bear and a lion screaming at each other. Peter was even laughing. I think the two were debating whether or not I would benefit from the sterility of a hospital setting, which Logan insisted didn't matter because I had a healing factor. It was rather entertaining.

"Ahem."

Logan stopped shouting, and gave me his attention. I thought over Charles' words, and made a decision. "I think we should take them up on their offer."

Of course he was skeptical. "Why? They might be spies."

"You wanna run forever?" I teased him. "They're offering us a place to stay. I'm kinda iffy on the school thing, but I would like to walk again at some point. But only if you're in the room with me. I don't like laboratories," I said with a glare to Hank.

"I guess I could make an exception on the whole 'patient privacy' thing," Hank replied.

"You're damn right you will," Logan growled, laying his hand possessively on my hip.

Peter noticed, and rolled his eyes. "Geez, this is like Wild Kingdom or some shit. 'Who gets the child bride: tune in next episode.'"

"Age of consent in Canada is sixteen, asshole," Logan snarled, causing everyone to break out into a noisy chatter until Charles clapped his hands and shushed them.

"Alright, that will do. I'm glad you two have made a decision to join us," Charles said with a nod. "We can depart as soon as you are ready, unless you two need some time to prepare and gather your things."

"I don't have anything I'm attached to," Logan scoffed.

"That's a lie," I corrected. "He'll want to take his motorcycle. My stuff is probably all bloody and damaged... If my photo album survived I want that. And the stuffed animal that was on my bed. A handful of your shirts, too."

Logan snickered at the last request, while Peter zipped out of the room. He returned with a blood spattered yet intact photo album, and the stuffed animal which he was dangling by the tail. Thankfully it wasn't dirty. "What is this supposed to be, a honey badger?"

"Just gimme that!" I took it from him, though I didn't miss Hank stifling his laughter at me having an actual stuffed wolverine. Logan put a few pairs of clothes and the items I asked for into a duffel bag, while Hank hurried and patched my open wounds for transport.

"Do you know if there was any spinal damage?" Hank asked Logan, after which they both turned to me with a blank stare on their faces.

"Well, I originally wiped her off in her room before I carried her in here, and she sat herself up, so I'm guessing no," Logan answered.

"I can feel my toes," I said, frowning at them like they forgot I was here. "Why you asking?"

"It would be best to transport you on a stretcher or a spinal board since I don't know the extent of your injuries," Hank answered.

"Horseshit, she's got a healing factor like me," Logan interjected. "It's slow, but then she's got my blood from the field transfusion, so-"

"You gave her a _field transfusion_?!" Hank just about went white, though I didn't think he could with all that blue fur. "Do you have any idea how unsanitary that is? Not to mention the possibility of blood type mismatching..."

"I disinfected our arms and my claws with that bottle of Everclear before I even started."

" _Everclear?!_ Oh, my stars and garters!"

The squabbling picked back up again, and at this point, even Charles was laughing. The whole thing made me smile. Something tells me those two are going to be good friends.


	10. Firecracker

A/N: There are two more characters introduced here. One will cause the green eyed monster to rear her ugly head again. Anyone want to guess who this character is? XD The other character I de-aged down to fourteen, because I wanted someone a little closer to Elle's age for her to relate to (plus even though I didn't see Apocalypse yet, I know she's in the movie and they waste her just like they wasted her in the original movies).

And for those holding out to see a certain escapee with the "messed up eyes" from the first chapter, have no fear, he will show up soon. I haven't forgotten about him. ;)

* * *

I discovered that Logan doesn't like planes.

Once it was decided that I was safe to travel without a stretcher (and by 'decided' I mean 'Logan had enough of arguing with Hank and just picked me up and carried me outside'), we boarded the jet that brought Charles and company to see us.

I laid on a stretcher table in the back, with Logan and Charles sitting beside me. Logan didn't look too good, and that's probably why he snuck that flask in his jacket. Charles explained to me that it would take around three hours to get to New York where his school was located; this jet of theirs was high tech, but they didn't want to attract any undue attention so they were going slow. I don't blame them.

Hank was a really good pilot, he kept the jet smooth throughout the entire flight. Logan was fine until landing, but then again, I don't think even him piloting his own plane would make him like flying. I thought we were going to land at an airstrip, so I was surprised when we disembarked into an underground passageway. The hangar we're in right now is half finished, but it lead to a series of metallic corridors.

"You'll have to excuse the dust, we're still working on expanding this part of the estate," Charles explained as Hank helped him into his wheelchair. "Believe it or not, you're under the basketball court right now."

"You've got some kind of secret operation going on, don't you?" Logan asked, causing Peter to laugh. "Hey, I wasn't asking you, space cadet."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a secret operation, but yes, we do operate partially under the radar," Charles answered. "To the public, the school is known as an institution for gifted youngsters. To mutants like us, we're known as a safe haven. Anyone can come and take refuge here. We don't exactly advertise _this_ facet of the school," he motioned to the facility around us, "but we have the tools and equipment necessary to assist those in danger. Like you and Elle, we rescue those who have been unfairly targeted."

Hank led Logan and I down the corridors into what resembled a medical bay, where a red headed girl was poking around a computer. I don't know why, but I instantly disliked her. Maybe it was her saucy little ponytail, or the way she eyed Logan up and down as we entered the room. Oh no, there'll be none of that.

"Ah, Logan, Elle, I'd like you to meet Jean Grey, one of my senior students," Charles said, as I held possessively onto Logan's neck. "She's just recently taken up a position as school counselor for the younger students, and is our medical provider when Hank is away. Jean, this is Logan and Elle. They'll be staying with us for a while."

"It's nice to meet you both," she said, before focusing on Logan. "You probably don't remember me, though. We met-"

"I know who you are," he interrupted her. "Redhead from Stryker's lab. You a telepath too, then? I don't appreciate people screwing around in my head." He must have been a little annoyed, because I could feel him tensing as he gripped my thighs.

"Of course not," she replied with a smile. Probably fake. "Besides, it's an unwritten rule around here that you don't go into a person's head without their permission. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help get dinner started. It was nice meeting you again." Jean scurried out of the room, dragging Peter with her. He snickered on his way out, mumbling something about a Scott having competition. Not if I can help it.

Hank and Charles proceeded to explain the plan for the night to us. Hank was not going to let me out of his sight without a thorough medical examination, and no amount of squabbling or threatening would change his mind. In the meantime, Logan was free to either sit and watch, or go up with Charles to explore our new lodging. Logan wasn't about to leave Hank in a room alone with me out of pride, but Hank would be working at a snail's pace with Logan hovering over his every move.

There had to be some kind of compromise here, so I spoke up. "Hey Hank, don't you have a nurse or something that you could call down here? Maybe then Logan could go see Charles about where we're staying."

"I could call Jean..."

Ugh, not her. "Um, didn't she say she had to make dinner or something?"

"Oh, that's right." Dodged a bullet. "Well, there is one other person I could call down. A student owes me a few hours of community service for destroying my herb garden. She's young, but she did show an interest in first aid and has an explosive personality. You'd probably like her."

"She'll do," I said, so Hank got on his intercom. A few moments later, Charles came back in along with a bubblegum chomping teenager.

"Jubilee, spit that out," Hank grumbled, before introducing her. "Elle, Logan, this is Jubilation Lee, or Jubilee for short. Keep an eye on her because she is a literal firecracker."

"I told ya, Dr. Hank, the garden thing was an accident."

"There is no reason for you to be setting off your powers in the greenhouse," he admonished. "Now, Elle was injured by a feral type mutant and you're going to observe as I treat her wounds. Logan here is going back up with Professor Xavier for a little while, but he is very protective of Elle and has asked that you stay down here and keep her company while he is gone. Think you can do that?"

"Do I get a choice?"

"I like this kid," Logan chuckled.

Hank sighed. "Think of it this way, Jubilee. During gynecological exams performed by a male doctor, there is always a female nurse present in the room. You can be my nurse today. Do this, and I'll forget about the garden."

Jubilee nodded, but Logan growled. "Hey bub, you better _not_ be doing any kind of gynecological exam!"

"Logan, just get going," I yelled, once I recovered from some very painful laughter. Jubilee and Hank shoved him out the door (perhaps with a little telepathic help from Charles), and we were finally able to start taking care of my injuries.

"So what happened to ya?" Jubilee asked, as she helped me out of my clothes. I didn't miss the grimace on her face at the number of scars along my torso.

"Mauled by a monster," was the best I could come up with. "Though, I survived because I have the ability to heal over time."

"Her healing factor is not very potent, though," Hank elaborated as he ran a scanner over my mauled knee. "Most of the superficial cuts are closed and gone, and the deeper ones have scabbed over, but this knee isn't healed and her strength hasn't returned. From the research we have on mutant healing factors, they tend to work instantly or at the longest over a few hours. In your case, you have such a slow healing rate, it's almost human."

"I did lose a lot of blood," I reminded him. "Plus, I have a theory..."

Hank's ears perked up. "A theory? Do enlighten me."

"Well, when they used to torture me, I always healed within a few hours," I explained. "The only exception was when that monster, Sabretooth, scratched me. He's the same one who did this. His scratches took longer to heal. I always thought it was because he was rougher. But maybe I'm allergic to him, or something."

"Hmm. Let me see your neck." Hank leaned over me before I had time to protest, and examined the spot where Logan had bit me earlier. "There may be some weight to that theory. Jubilee, get me the mirror on that tray."

Jubilee handed him the mirror, which he angled so I could see the bite mark. He rubbed a little bit of dried blood away, enough for me to see that it was already beginning to fade. "You know, you sniffing around his mating mark is exactly why Logan didn't want to leave the room," I teased, turning Hank's face red.

"Woah, is that a hickey? You mean you're dating that walking pile of muscles?" Jubilee squealed, and bumped Hank out of the way to start asking me all kinds of questions about boys and what it's like to actually be in a relationship.

"Jubilee, please, another time," Hank chided. "Elle, my scan revealed that your tendons and ligaments are thankfully intact. It's possible that the more powerful cells from Logan's foolhardy blood transfusion sped up the tissue repair. All we have to do is wait for the layers of skin to knit back together. Your other knee is fine, I advise keeping it wrapped until morning. Once the skin on this knee repairs itself, you should be ready to begin rehabilitation. If you've regained strength by then, that is."

"Well, I was already starting to sit up this morning," I answered. "I'm sure once my appetite returns I'll be able to keep up."

Hank nodded. "Good. Then I'll get you wrapped up and I'll call for our short-tempered friend to come down and get you."

I probably should have said something about that remark, but I let it go. Instead I looked over and noticed Jubilee rummaging around in my clothes, and heard her scoff. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you can't go back upstairs with no pants. There's _teenage boys_ up there. What's wrong with those men, not bringing you a change bag?" She dug through drawers until she found a pair of scrub pants, and though they were ugly as hell, they would serve their purpose and make me decent.

"Thanks. Can't have strangers ogling me, especially since Logan would want to claw them."

She looked at me in confusion. "Claw?"

"One of his mutations is that he has three long claws in each of his hands."

"Ohh. I figured it was some kind of chick magnet gene." She had to explain what she meant when I started laughing. "How else did he get you? I mean, you look at him and he's the exact opposite of the hot guys in all my magazines, you know?"

"Our relationship is way more complicated than just looks," I explained, "But actually, no, I don't read magazines. I've read romance books, but they're not illustrated."

"Oh, well. Don't take this the wrong way, I don't want a fight or anything," she started. "The magazines say tall, light hair, smooth face and a bare chest are what make up the ideal man. Your guy is as short as you, has black hair, a fuzzy face, and I'm guessing from the hair lining his arms, he's probably Chewbacca in disguise."

The unwilling audience to our conversation, Hank just shook his head. "Puberty has been occurring earlier and earlier in recent years, but even this kind of conversation is a little mature for you, Jubilee. You're fourteen."

"I'm mature for my age, Dr. Hank," she insisted. "Besides, you know very well that fourteen year old boys don't get scolded for thinking about girls. Why should we girls be held to a double standard? At least I'm not acting on my urges."

"Alright, enough. Help dress Elle so we can call for Logan." As soon as Jubilee drew back the privacy curtain, Hank couldn't help but add, "And keep in mind that some women might appreciate a man with a well groomed chest!"

"Ew, Dr. Hank!"


	11. Massage Therapy

A/N: Okay, so this is one of the chapters where the story really earns its **M rating**. It starts about 7 paragraphs in and lasts for the rest of the chapter. I usually don't write this type of scene, so I apologize if it's not to the caliber of the books Elle is fond of reading. ;)

But it's a nice way to celebrate Elle's recovery, I guess? Mr. Bad Influence strikes again...

* * *

Logan and I were given one of the couples suites on the third floor as our lodgings, since Charles thought we would value our privacy. Most of the teachers had rooms on the second floor between the male and female dormitories, but then again, most of the teachers probably didn't fight with nightmares in their sleep, either.

The suite was almost the size of a little house, and had two small rooms in case we needed to sleep in separate beds. Hank wanted my knee to heal right, so he had me wear a splint. That meant I was confined to bed. Logan would lay with me during the day, but he still feared he would hurt me at night. So he would sleep in the other room, and it sucked because I could hear him tossing and turning when I woke up in the middle of the night.

I had to spend three whole days in that bed while my leg skin grew back. Logan kept me company, and Jubilee even visited with some clothes that her and another woman named Ororo bought for me. She said I could meet her when I was healed, since they didn't want to overwhelm us by introducing all these new people at once.

I appreciated that, especially since I wasn't used to all this attention. It was weird, I could look out the window and see kids running around when I used to be lucky to see a fox or a squirrel go by. Hank would poke his head in every day for his 'rehabilitation' exercises, and of course Charles would come by to talk about something or other.

At least after the sun went down we were alone. Logan would disappear for a few minutes while Hank was here (since he usually brought Jubilee with him), and return with a big tray of food raided from somewhere. I think he bribed Peter to go buy beer for him, too, because I know there's no way Charles would allow a school to stock it and he didn't leave me long enough to get it on his own.

"You want one, to celebrate your recovery?" Logan asked me as we sat on my bed. He handed me one of his beers, but I handed it back.

"Not really," I answered, and leaned on his shoulder. After a whole week, today was my final rehabilitation session and I was released from Hank's care. He told me he would continue researching my unique healing factor in the meantime, to determine if there was anything that could be done about healing the multitude of scars covering my body. "Besides, we're not in Alberta any more. It's twenty one here, Mr. Bad Influence."

"Pfft, Americans. Guess we'll have to find another way to celebrate."

Logan sat the cans aside, and next thing I knew, I was rolled over onto my back with him kissing up and down my face and neck. Now this I could get into. I wrapped my hands around Logan's neck and dug my fingers into his hair, giggling as his stubble tickled my cheek. I was very quickly shushed as he found his way north.

"Don't be giggling at a man's technique," he murmured after releasing my lips from a rather intense kiss, and resumed his meandering. The kisses turned into little bites once he made his way up to my ear, sending heat coursing all through my body. I was so entranced by his actions, that I didn't even notice he had unbuttoned my shirt until he gently squeezed one of my breasts.

"Ahn!"

"Heh, you like that?"

I grinned at him. "A little warning would have been nice."

"Well then, here's your warning." Logan reached over and pulled me up into a kiss, and while I was distracted slid his hand into my bra and pinched my other nipple. The sensation made me buck up against him, and as I did so, my thigh accidentally pressed into his crotch.

We both moaned from the contact, though for slightly different reasons. Logan was _aroused_ , and I had just reminded him of that fact. I was aroused too, of course, but let's get one thing straight here. I'm a sixteen going on seventeen year old girl who's never really been out of the house, and whose only exposure to sex has been slutty romance novels and the one Penthouse magazine Logan accidentally threw in the laundry basket. I know _where it goes_ , and the technical bits of the whole experience, but I don't know what to actually _do_.

"...Elle."

"Huh?" I looked up and Logan was grinning at me. "What?"

"Did you space out on me, darlin?"

"No, I, um... How far are we... going... tonight?" I fiddled with the buttons on my shirt, a clear sign of my nervousness. Logan picked up on it though and cuddled with me.

"How far do you want to go?"

I furrowed my brow. "I don't think I'm ready to go all the way yet, but at the same time I need to finish this," I explained. "Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," he answered, kissing my forehead. "Take the rest of your clothes off and lay back down, I'll be right back."

I watched Logan disappear into the bathroom, so I took my shirt and pants off and sat back down on the bed. He came back out a few minutes later changed into his own nightwear, carrying a bottle of something. After dimming the lights, he came back to the bed.

"What's that?"

"I'm actually surprised there was some in there, but then again, this is a _couples suite_ ," he said with a wink. "This is warming oil, and I am going to give you a massage. Tie your hair up, and take your bra off."

My cheeks turned bright red. A thousand different thoughts went through my head, but before I knew it, my hands were pulling my hair up off my shoulder blades, and my bra was unclasped and tossed to the floor. I don't even think I broke eye contact with Logan the whole time... What's gotten in to me?!

I laid on my stomach first. Logan covered every piece of skin, paying extra attention to the areas where I had lots of scarring. He was a little mischievous as he massaged near my underarms, and slid his hands under to grope at my breasts. I laughed and slid my foot along his chest as retribution, pretending to kick him.

When Logan finished my back I rolled over for the front massage, and let me just tell you that this was a massage that I will never forget. He started by massaging my mouth as he gave me a very delicious kiss, his tongue flicking over my own and gliding through my mouth with ease.

While our mouths were occupied, Logan massaged my shoulders and the tops of my arms, then made his way to my bare chest. The heat of the oil mixed with Logan's natural heat was heaven to begin with, but once he honed in on that sensitive skin, I was on cloud nine. I moaned and called out Logan's name, and my heart rate soared as he circled one of my nipples and squeezed it for good measure.

Logan continued his heavenly massage further south toward my navel, circling it with his finger as he stroked the skin of my stomach. While I was distracted with a kiss he hooked a finger in my underwear and coaxed them down, and began kneading my hips.

"Now comes the best part of the massage, darlin. You ready?"

In a haze I shook my head yes, then all of a sudden I felt a jolt as Logan pressed his fingers between my legs. He did it again, but this time I could feel him parting my folds and stroking inside, focusing his attention around the top. He was squeezing and rolling the skin there between his fingers, and as he did so I was seeing white.

"Nng, Logan, wha..."

"You're tensing up. You almost there?"

I couldn't answer him, because right then, he pinched me and it set off an explosion so intense I think I actually screamed. I thought I've had orgasms before from my own goofing around, but apparently not. I couldn't move. Every nerve in my body was overloaded, I couldn't think, and I just melted. Either I sucked at taking care of my own needs, or Logan was one hell of a masseuse.

"Hey, you still alive?" I heard Logan chuckling, before he leaned over, wiped my sweaty bangs away, and kissed my forehead. "Does that take care of your problem?"

"Unnh."

"Thought so."

He's not taken care of, though. "...And you?"

"I'll take care of it," he said rather tersely.

"Cover me up when you're done," I mumbled, leaving my slicked up, disheveled, _naked_ body out in the open as a thank you gift. "And you're sleeping with me tonight," I added.

I was asleep before he could even protest it.

* * *

A/N: I hope these rooms are soundproof. They're probably not, and with their luck Scott's room is right below and he'll have to add "makes obscene loud noises at night" to the Reasons I Dislike Logan list along with "dates a teenager" and "drinks beer and smokes around students". XD


	12. School for Gifted Youngsters

A/N: Apologies for not posting this last night, but I made it a little longer to make up for it. Here you're going to see a little more of Elle's dislike of Jean. Right now it's just a bit of a gag, since I'm not sure I want to go anywhere with it. But I'll leave the possibility open.

Keep in mind as you read the first portion of the chapter that Elle may be mature, but she is still a teenage girl. A teenage girl who hasn't seen many men naked. XD

* * *

I woke up naked, and almost freaked out, until I remembered how incredibly awesome last night was. Then I got to thinking, why wasn't I freezing cold? Well it turns out somebody listened to me and actually slept in the same bed with me for a change. I looked over my shoulder and there Logan was, asleep with his arm draped over me. Though, he wrapped me in a blanket cocoon, probably so he (or worse, his feral side) wouldn't be tempted in the middle of the night.

"...Those green eyes are going to get you eaten up one of these days."

"Huh?" Before I could figure out what the heck that meant, Logan rolled over on me and kissed me good morning. It was rather sweet. "What do you mean you're going to eat me?"

"Heh, oh nothing. Just an eye man, that's all." And here I thought he was a leg man. You learn something every day. I hummed an acknowledgement, and then before I knew it, Logan picked me up cocoon and all, and carried me off to the bathroom.

"Hey! What are you doing, put me down!"

"We need a shower before we wander down to the kitchen," he explained. "Have to start off with a good impression, after all."

I can understand that, but wait a second, _we_? Is he getting in the shower with me? Oh. My. Grapenuts, he is. He sat me on the counter in the bathroom and started the shower, then just dropped his pants. When he turned to me to unravel my cocoon, I couldn't help myself from checking him out. And damn, I was just about right when I said he was like a soda can. Maybe not _that_ big, but still.

"Alright, enough gawking," Logan said with a laugh, and tossed me in the shower. He stepped in behind me, and good thing I was facing the wall because I was purple faced.

"Um, ah... are they all... that big?"

His response was to laugh and pull me under the stream of water. "Stop teasing, or you'll make it bigger," he murmured into my ear, grinning when I figured out what he meant. But he was the one who was teasing, because he immediately switched gears and dumped a handful of shampoo in my hair, then started scrubbing me up like I was a little girl.

"Hey, what's this?! What are you doing?"

"You haven't had a real bath in almost two weeks, only the little sponge baths you've been getting in bed. I'm making sure everything gets clean," he answered.

"And here I thought you wanted to shower with me for a different reason," I said, rubbing shampoo out of my eyes.

Logan grinned, exposing his long canines. "Darlin, one day you'll find I'm _very_ fond of 'fooling around in the shower' as you call it, but that day ain't today. We gotta go meet the rest of Charles' gang of misfits and figure out if we want to stay here, and I don't think you want to be doing that with a mind full of jelly. 'Cause that's where you're headed if we keep going, understand?"

"Yeah, I understand. You could at least kiss me, though."

"Oh, alright. But just one."

* * *

Several kisses later, we were finally out of the shower and on our way down to the school kitchen. I was nervous and clung to Logan's arm, after all I had been secluded in our room for the last ten days and only saw Charles, Hank, and Jubilee. I didn't know how the other people here would react to me, or how they would take my relationship with Logan. Considering how I looked only a little older than Jubilee and he looked in his thirties, I was already prepared for the worst. Oh man...

We walked past a dining room where there were all kinds of kids eating and chatting. They seemed well behaved, I didn't see any food being thrown or any bullying so that was nice. The room right next to it was the kitchen, and Logan directed me inside.

The kitchen was fairly decent in size, then again it would have to be in order to serve a school this big. Right away I noticed a nice sized table off to the side, where a tall African woman with white hair stood talking to that redhead Jean. As soon as they noticed us come in, the tall woman cut off her conversation and ran over to us.

"Logan, good morning! I see you've brought someone down to meet us, well don't be selfish, introduce her already!"

"Hold your horses, doll. Jeez, what happened to not wantin' to overwhelm her, huh?" Logan sighed, before turning to me. "Elle, this is Ororo. Ororo, Elle. Now don't get carried away, Hank only released her yesterday."

"That's not an introduction!" Ororo pouted, before turning to me and shaking my hand. "Hello Elle, I'm Ororo Munroe, but I also go by Storm. It's nice to meet you."

She had really clear blue eyes, they were almost mesmerizing. Along with her white hair, she made for a really beautiful woman, almost like a goddess. "Nice to meet you, and thank you for the clothes. I appreciate it, since my stuff was kinda ruined."

"We heard from Peter what happened. I'm so sorry you were attacked like that."

"Yeah um... Why do they call you Storm, if you don't mind me asking?"

"She can control the weather," Jean piped in from over at the table. "It's really something."

"It helps when you teach science if you can demonstrate a little meteorology," Ororo joked. "Why don't you two go ahead and find yourselves something to eat? Scott and the others should be down soon, we can introduce you all then."

"Yeah, I don't know what he's taking so long for," Jean mumbled, turning back to her coffee. I saw her giving us little glances as we assembled our breakfasts. I don't know what her problem is, unless she's jealous I have Logan. Whatever.

We settled down at the table with our food, anticipating the coming introductions. The next person into the kitchen was Peter, who promptly zipped over to me and hung on my shoulder. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you out of bed, Yuki!"

"Yuki?" I turned and bonked Peter's head, though I suspect he let me do it on purpose. He could have dodged it easily. "You know that's not my name."

He nodded. "Yeah, but I figured if he's supposed to be Ogami Itto from the wolf story, then you've gotta be Oyuki. You know, from-"

" _Shurayukihime_ ," Logan and I said in unison. Logan furrowed his brow, before asking, "How do you even know that 'wolf story' means anything to us?"

"I was in your cabin, remember? You had an entire bookshelf filled with both English and Japanese versions of that tale, and a whole bunch of other related stuff on the same shelf that screamed 'this stuff is not for touching'. It looked expensive."

"So let me guess, space cadet touched it," I said, rolling my eyes. "You had time to snoop around in our stuff?"

Peter disappeared, and reappeared with a box in his hand. "Yeah, I kinda did, don't get mad. I had to ask one of the other guys here if he could help get some of the blood off the spines. One of the books he wasn't able to save, but the good news is that I found another copy of it in a bookstore downtown. Happy recovery."

I gasped, and looked in the box. Inside were all the fairy tale books Logan and I had left behind, including the ones with the _Kozure Ohkami_ story inside. I had been in such a hurry to get away from that blood soaked cabin, that I completely forgot about them when Charles asked me about our possessions.

"Peter! Oh goodness, thank you!" I hugged him in gratitude, and Logan patted him on the back. Maybe he wasn't such a space cadet after all.

"No problem. Hey, here's the other guy who helped me, he's the drama teacher. Yo, Kurt!"

If Logan thought Hank was a sasquatch, then he probably thought the man named Kurt was an elf. Kurt came over and bowed like a gentleman, and I'm guessing would have kissed my hand like one had Logan not been hovering over me. "Ah, hello, I am Kurt Wagner, it is nice to meet you..." His German accent was endearing.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt. I'm Elle, and this is Logan. Thank you for fixing our books." Logan shook his hand without pause, and after Kurt left, I heard him mutter something like 'can't believe the elf is taller than me' which made me want to smack him.

The last three in were Hank, Charles, and a young man in red sunglasses, who Jean ran over to and just about sucked his face off.

"Is that the famous Scott?" I asked Peter, who had sat down beside me and Logan.

"Yup. They've been together about ten years now." And she's been eyeing _my_ man? Ugh.

"What's with the sunglasses? Reality too bright for the guy?" Logan quipped, as Ororo sat down across from us. While Jean and her beau figured out what they wanted, Hank and Charles came over to see how I was feeling. I told them I had only walked down here so far, but nothing went wrong so I think I'm okay. Charles told us to come to his office once we were finished with breakfast, and he'd show us around the facilities.

Despite the fact that the only one left was Mr. Sunglasses, Ororo was jumping at the bit to introduce us to everyone. So she urged Hank and Charles to get their breakfasts and sit down, and once Jean and Scott came over, she had everyone go around the table and share their name and their abilities.

There was Charles the telekinetic Professor, Hank the Beast, Ororo aka Storm with her weather control, Jean the telepath, Scott the 'Cyclops' who shoots lasers out of his eyes (hence the sunglasses to block them), Kurt the incredible Nightcrawler who can teleport, Quicksilver Peter, and of course me and Logan.

Something was bugging me, and I had to ask. "Why do you all have fancy codenames? I'll admit, I call Logan the Wolverine sometimes because of his other personality, his feral side. With the exception of Hank, I don't think any of you would ever have that kind of problem."

The table was silent for a few moments, until I heard Ororo whisper to Jean "you mean they don't know?" and her reply "I thought they did". The strangest thing was the attention Logan and I were getting from Scott. I couldn't tell because of the glasses, but I'm pretty sure he was narrowing his eyes at us. It had to be because Logan had his arm wrapped around my shoulders. I knew this would happen.

"To answer your question, Elle, it would be because of the rescue operation we run," Charles explained, when it was clear no one else wanted to speak. "It's easier to use aliases when out on a mission, so that we can separate our private lives from our professional ones, so to speak. In your case, we gave our names because Logan had already met us, and Peter didn't even have an alias back then, isn't that right?"

"You barged into my house pretending to be cops and told my kid sister you were the Wolverine," Peter chuckled. "Good times."

"Yes, well... I think the rest of you better get ready for class." Charles paused. "And someone better stop the food fight that's about to break out next door."

Ororo leapt out of her seat and ran into the dining room, with Jean close behind. "John, Bobby, stop that right now!" The rest of them hurried and wiped off their dishes, with the exception of Scott who paused and looked Logan over again.

"You need something, bub?"

"You have claws in your hands, right?"

With a snikt, Logan expelled the claws in his left hand.

"That's what I thought," he said, before looking back at me and shaking his head. Without another word, he cleared his tray and left the room.

"Don't mind Scott," Charles said when it was just me, him, and Logan left behind. "He's a little tense because for one, he thought he'd never see Logan again after the incident at the Alkali Lake facility. The other reason..."

"Was written all over their faces," Logan finished for him. "The age gap."

So Logan saw it too, then. A thought suddenly came to mind. "Why aren't you opposed to us, if you don't mind me asking? You are clearly a man of wisdom, and you've led these people from most likely harsh lives in all corners of the world, to a meaningful life here at this school. If anyone should be opposed to an older man dating a teenager, it would be you."

Charles smiled, and nodded at my question. "My dear, I have seen many types of relationships in my years, enough to know that there is more to love than just the old standby of 'man loves woman'. Sometimes it's two people of the same gender, or two people of different genders. Sometimes it's three people, or sometimes it's four. If love is there, and all parties have the ability to consent to it, I'm not going to get in its way. You are old enough to make your own decisions, and I have reason to believe you have made the right decision."

"Thank you, Professor," I replied, deciding to use his title because that answer was respect worthy. If he's willing to give us a chance, I think we can give him a chance. "You wanted to talk to us when we were finished?"

"Yes, go ahead and take your time. I actually want to talk to you about something we discovered concerning Stryker's facility."

Logan and I looked at each other. This is one hell of a coincidence; we hear nothing for ten years, then suddenly Sabretooth comes after me and then there's new information about the Alkali Lake facility.

* * *

We finished our breakfast and moved the discussion to the Professor's office. Once there, the Professor informed us that he knew of our whereabouts for quite some time, due to a machine of his called 'Cerebro'. Apparently it can locate anyone by linking to his telepathy.

"I was keeping track of you because of the debt I owed you," Charles explained to Logan. "I can't go into further detail, but suffice to say I wanted to know where you were just in case an emergency arose and you needed assistance."

"So I was a fucking game to you?" Logan sneered. "I don't need anyone's protection."

"But Elle clearly does," Charles reminded him. "Whatever caused you to be absent from the cabin endangered her life. Logan, do not allow it to happen again."

It was strange watching the Professor scold Logan. Logan was enraged that someone clearly physically weaker than him dared to boss him around; but at the same time, he knew the Professor was right. Plus, it probably helped that the Professor could make Logan think that he was a little girl.

"Now, we've discovered that the two of you are _not_ the only ones who were lucky enough to escape Stryker's clutches," Charles continued. "Back in 1983, there were multiple events around the world that caused mass destruction. We've come to call it 'The Apocalypse Incident', and it was the fault of a very powerful mutant."

"I've heard of this," Logan muttered, interrupting the Professor's explanation. "I don't remember any of it, but what I know I picked up from scared mutants we encountered in our travels when Elle was a little girl."

"Yes, you wouldn't know anything about it, Logan, because you were in Stryker's custody during the entire event," Charles continued. "One of the incidents was the launch of a number of nuclear missiles into space. Stryker came to the mansion to investigate this matter, and kidnapped a number of my people. This is how Jean, Scott, and Kurt got to the facility, and eventually released you."

"Okay, so who else did they release?" I asked.

"No one, actually," Charles answered. "I explained that event to you so you would know how you escaped. But we know one other prisoner escaped, and we know his name. It was in some files an associate of mine recovered from the facility. Apparently Stryker sent Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth, on a mission to retrieve him shortly before your own escape."

"Why are you telling us?" Logan asked.

"I was hoping the two of you would help me reach out to him, and offer him shelter here at the mansion. One of his mutations apparently makes him difficult to track with Cerebro, and from what I gather, Creed is still actively tracking him down. He's rather sour he got away, and that might be why he went after you, Elle."

I looked at Logan and shuddered. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what Sabretooth did to me, especially since it would be fatal without a healing factor. "What's his name?"

"Remy LeBeau."

* * *

A/N: Charles' speech to Elle about how he does not oppose their relationship is meant to imply that he knows how close Elle and Logan will be in the future, because he saw how deep of a relationship they had in the other timeline when he looked into Logan's head. The problem with me writing this story first and not the bad future version is that I didn't establish any of that, and I probably should have. Whoopsie. But I do have a plan for versions of X1-The Wolverine that involve Elle. Just not written out. :s


	13. Mission Briefing

"So you want us to join your secret club, trek down to god knows where, and convince some skittish and probably dangerous mutant to come join the group when we don't even know if we're staying for sure yet?"

I sat in my chair and listened while Logan and the Professor bantered back and forth about the pros and cons of this potential mission. Logan was somewhat irritated that the Professor was suggesting putting me into a potentially dangerous situation, but he insisted that I would be helpful in getting this Remy to cooperate.

"Why do you think I would be able to get him to go with us?" I wondered.

"You're not suggesting she try to _seduce_ him, are you?" Logan was getting pissed.

"No, Logan, of course not. LeBeau might be more willing to talk to you if he recognizes Elle from the facility," Charles explained. "She's grown up, of course, but she still has a bit of a baby face to her. There's no guarantee he saw her while he was there, but it's a shot."

"Do you know what he looks like? Or how old he is?" I tried to think of the other prisoners I might have seen. I remember the awful screams that kept me awake at night, but I now know they mostly belonged to Logan. They did some awful things in there...

The Professor handed Logan a folder, which must have been a dossier. "We know he was sixteen when he escaped the facility, which would put him about twenty six now. He's a white male, tall with auburn hair. Here's his defining feature- his eyes are black."

Logan looked up. "What, like black irises?"

"No, black _eyeballs_ ," Charles corrected. "His irises are red, probably pupils, too. I wouldn't be surprised if he hides them. Stryker went after mutants who were born with their abilities, like you, Elle. From what I was able to find, LeBeau was taken from the New Orleans area. That makes sense, because I also found an account of a child with 'the devil's eyes' being stolen from a hospital by a group of thieves around twenty six years ago."

"I don't remember meeting anyone with black and red eyes," I told him. "They'd drag me past some cells every now and then, and there were other prisoners there, but to be honest, a lot of the time I was crying or unconscious. I didn't have time for a meet and greet."

"It's okay, Elle, I wasn't expecting you to remember. But there's always a chance that he will," Charles explained. "Do the two of you think you could help with this?"

Logan looked skeptical, and turned to me. "I'm not putting you in danger just to help keep some cajun out of danger."

Before I responded, I took the folder from his lap and leafed through it. The Professor theorized that Remy LeBeau was kidnapped by Stryker almost the same time I was, and that his additional mutation must have manifested in captivity. The files recovered from the facility said that he had the power to convert potential energy into kinetic energy. I could see how Stryker would want to abuse that. "Maybe we should help him, Logan."

"Why?"

"...He won't be able to run from Sabretooth forever," I answered, making Logan sigh. He knew I was right, and while I suspected that he didn't care what happened to anyone but me, his feral side wanted to shred Sabretooth to pieces. Protecting those who Sabretooth made into targets would appease the Wolverine in the meantime, so Logan decided to go along with it.

"Fine. But we're not going anywhere until you are good and rested. Besides, you don't even know where this LeBeau guy is, do you?" Logan asked, turning to the Professor.

"He's probably back in New Orleans," Charles answered. "My guess would be that he's hiding in plain sight, with his support network around him. I think he'll be safe for a little while until you feel ready to go. Creed was injured during your fight, I assume, so it's unlikely that he will act right away."

"Creed has the same kind of healing capability that I have," Logan interjected. "He might not be as quick to heal as I am, but he's never gone down and not come back up. Don't assume he'll crawl in a corner and lick his wounds."

"...Why don't you just use your fancy machine and keep tabs on Sabretooth?" It was a dumb question for me to ask, but sometimes the stupid questions are the right ones.

"Last time I searched for him, he was still in Canada where we found you," Charles answered. "But it might be dangerous to just randomly follow him around. Besides, we could get there too late."

Good point.

"The two of you will need to settle in here before we send you out on a mission, anyways," he continued. "Come on, I'll give you that tour I mentioned, then later today Ororo has volunteered to take you into town and help you shop for necessities and the like."

"You must be real trusting if you're already letting us go on missions with your secret club," Logan remarked as we stood and made for the door. "How do you know we're not gonna bale on you?"

"Because you're the one who encouraged me to form this 'secret club', my friend," Charles said with a smile.

* * *

The tour was nothing spectacular, since the school had most of the amenities that an upscale boarding school would feature. There was a nice sized swimming pool, a stable with lots of grazing land, and a variety of sports fields. Logan liked the large garage and workspace, and I liked the easy access to woods nearby. There were lots of trails for exploring, and a few led to a beautiful lake. In all, the estate was lovely.

Things didn't get interesting until we got to the basement levels. In addition to the hangar, medical laboratories, and the Cerebro device, there were a few rooms that made Logan light up. First was an adults only weight training and cardio room, with plenty of durable machines for a heavy guy like him to go to town on. The next one was really impressive, though. The Professor called it the "Danger Room", and explained that it was an action simulator capable of producing realistic battle scenarios. They used it for mission training, and we were welcome to try it out so long as we were careful.

Logan immediately made use of the Danger Room, deciding that if we were going to play mutant hide and seek, I needed to be trained how to fight. When I was rested and back to speed, we started with a plain and simple forest simulation where Logan had me practice hiding and running. It was a little unfair, since he can track things that are long gone, but he said I did well. It helped that he's always been cautious of humans who might want to harm us, and so I have learned a few things over the years. How else could I have heard him sneaking back into the house?

After that, we had to decide what kind of weapon I would take up. Logan went through target practice with me using a handgun, and it turns out I'm a pretty good shot, but I just didn't like it. Guns are handy in an emergency, but they're noisy and give you away. So Logan changed the room out from a target range into a field, and came back in holding a pair of Japanese swords.

"Alright kid, tie your hair up for this one," he said as he threw one of the scabbards my way. "I'm not responsible if you get an accidental trim."

"I might be able to get _your_ hair into a topknot, if you want," I teased.

"Very funny. Alright, I think you know what we're gonna do with these. Leave the scabbard on for the first round, and copy what I do." Logan started by going through a few basic movements, showing me different patterns until I got the hang of handling the weapon.

We stuck to footwork for a few days before moving up to simple offensive movements, sometimes in the Danger Room and sometimes outside in the athletic fields. The latter had the unfortunate side effect of attracting Jubilee and her gang of friends, who always hung around nearby and cheered whenever Logan would let me attack him. By the time I had graduated to practicing without the actual scabbards covering the blades, Jubilee informed me that the rest of the school was already calling me the 'ninja girl'.

"I think you've got your codename," Logan chuckled as he watched Jubilee and her gang scurry away after our practice.

"'Wolverine and Ninja Girl'? Please, it sounds like a cheesy comic," I grumbled as I sat on the ground catching my breath.

"Actually, I was thinking 'Kunoichi'. Your family name Shinobi means ninja, and kunoichi is a female ninja. We never told the students your last name, so if they decided to call you a ninja, it must be for a reason," he explained with a grin. "What do you say?"

"Wolverine and Kunoichi does sound much better."

Logan nodded, and sat down beside me. "I was thinking. You've improved a lot, and from the way you move when we do this, you'd never be able to tell you had the back of your knee ripped out. What do you say we go tell Charles we're ready to track down this cajun friend of his?"

"I think I can handle that," I answered, before scooting over and straddling his hips. "But just so you know, the number of days I've gone to bed without a _massage_ these last two weeks is rather pitiful..."

"I suppose I'll have to do something about that, won't I?" Logan grinned, and keeping his arms around me, leapt up from the ground. "You know, I don't get as many nightmares when I sleep next to you..."

"Well, maybe that's a sign, dummy! Now get me upstairs." I teased Logan, but in reality I couldn't be more thankful. I had someone who cared about me and wanted me safe, and that was all that mattered.


	14. Nightmares

A/N: This chapter gets a little sad, mainly because of Wolvie. But I had to have this scene somewhere and I figured I'd go ahead and do it before we go pick up the third wheel. Well, he's not exactly a third wheel, more like a 'cajun best friend' but you know what I mean. :D Also, I threw Jean a bone and gave her an olive branch.

I promise, next one we'll go mutant hunting.

* * *

Turns out the nightmares haven't gone away.

I woke with a jolt and a stab of pain, and found Logan sitting over me with a look of utter horror on his face. "Unh, what...?" That's when I felt a flood of pain in my side, and I looked down to see his claws embedded right under the edge of my hip bone. My nightgown and the remains of the blanket were splashed red, and the sheets on the other side of the bed were completely shredded.

"Logan?" I called out, but he was in shock. His eyes were wide, and I could tell by the way he hadn't retracted his claws that he didn't know what to do. But he must have reached out mentally to the Professor, because just then Hank and Jean came bursting through the door.

Jean came over to me with a strong painkiller, and cleared my shredded clothes and blankets out of the way, while Hank threw on the lights and tried to calm Logan down. "Logan, listen to me. It looks worse than it is, okay? Only two of your claws actually pierced the skin, and you missed any vital organs." He looked over to Jean, who had gathered a number of gauzes and supplies.

"I'm ready."

Hank nodded. "Okay, Logan. I need you to retract your claws _slowly_ now, alright?" Logan complied, slowly withdrawing the blades from my hip. Once they were free, Hank and Jean hurried to stitch close and cover the openings. Two of his claws went through the skin right between the crest of my hip and the top of the leg joint. The claw that didn't puncture made a cut that had already started to heal on its own, so Jean simply covered it to prevent any further infection.

"This looks like about a liter of blood loss," Jean supposed, studying the sheets.

"Stay in bed tomorrow, then," Hank ordered. "Your healing factor will take care of this by morning, I'm guessing, but I don't want to take any chances since it's so close to the joint. I'll let Charles know and he can postpone your mission for another day."

Hank and I both looked to Logan for confirmation, but Logan didn't seem all together there. He stared at the blood coating his claws, then turned toward us. When he caught sight of the bloody sheets that Jean was holding, he swore and stomped off to the other room.

"Let him brood. He'll get over it by morning," Hank advised. "If you need anything, let Charles know telepathically and he'll send for us."

Hank returned to his room, leaving Jean to help clean me up. "So what really happened?" she asked, helping me into new clothes, then throwing the bloody sheets out and pulling new ones from the closet. "You have a fight?"

A fight? How could she think we had a fight? I just looked at her as she changed the sheet on the bed, and freaked out a little when she levitated me to finish my side of the bed.

"Not in a mood to talk? Well then, may I?" She raised her hand beside my head, gesturing that she wanted to use her telepathy. So I nodded, and figured that if she got in my head and saw that I didn't appreciate her side eyeing Logan all the time, then maybe she'd stop.

"...I see, it was an accident," she nodded after a bit. "He gets nightmares, and you thought that you could help ease them. Maybe the two of you should talk to the Professor about this. He can help find the underlying cause of the nightmares, and maybe stop them."

"...Logan doesn't like people in his head," I reminded her. It's nice that she wants to help, but he can't stand people screwing around in his mind. Especially after what Stryker did.

"You two have a deep relationship," Jean said, sitting on the bed. "I didn't realize you were as close as you are. We all thought he just had a thing for younger girls."

"He saved my life. Stryker or Sabretooth probably would have killed me if Logan hadn't broken my cell open and rescued me from the snow. Something like this isn't gonna scare me away from him," I explained. "It was just an accident."

"Have you ever seen his _other side_? The dangerous one?" She shuddered. "I did, that day we went to rescue our friends up in that secret base. He was like a berserker."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of the Wolverine," I admitted. "But the only time I ever encountered him, he had a chance to kill me and he didn't. Take that as you will."

Jean shrugged, and got up to leave. "The Professor believes the both of you will be strong assets to the team, so we all want you to be here. Logan may be different, but that doesn't mean he's unwelcome. And I'm sorry if some of us have come off as judgemental."

"Thanks," I said, as she shut off the lights and left. When she was gone, I looked at the clock. Four a.m., and that painkiller they gave me already wore off. There was no way I'd be getting back to sleep, especially not after seeing that face that Logan made. It was totally different than the face he made in the kitchen, or back when he bit me. He was _hurt_.

Whatever he saw in the nightmare was replaced with the very real visualization that I was bleeding on the end of his claws. I wanted to get up and go to him, to prove to him I was alive and okay. Problem was the damage happened right on the crease of my hip, and I couldn't sit up out of bed yet. There went that plan out the window.

"Logan? I know you can hear me." I figured this was my best bet; I just knew that if I couldn't sleep, there was no way he could either. "Did you hear what I said to Jean? You didn't mean to do it. In the nearly ten years we've been together, you've never lashed out at me, and there's no reason that would start now. Just come back out here. I still love you."

I waited for that door to open, but it never did.

* * *

Logan stood on the other side of the door, staring in shock at his blood stained claws. When Hank had ordered him to withdraw them from Elle's body, he unconsciously pulled his arm back instead of sheathing them, leaving the evidence of his crime in plain view. Now it was there, reminding him that he almost killed the woman he loved. He's no better than Stryker.

"...what really happened? You have a fight?"

 _See? Now they think you're beating her around. Some guardian you are. Maybe Hank the Beast will think twice about that little love bite you gave her, now that you're stabbing her in the middle of the night._

Retracting his claws, Logan grabbed his head and tried to gain control of his thoughts. He was just overreacting, that was all. He needed more discipline, that was what caused him to harm Elle. He got too comfortable with his life here, and actually entertained the idea of settling down. That's why his control slipped, and that's why the nightmares came back. He cared too deeply about Elle to let anything happen to her, and that's why it mortified him that he was the one who harmed her.

"He saved my life."

 _...Was that Elle?_ Logan stirred from his thoughts and listened to Elle and Jean's conversation. Elle believed that what happened was accidental, and reiterated that she owed him her life.

 _A life you could easily take away._

"Shut up," Logan muttered to himself, and continued listening. The next part of the conversation didn't surprise him, because he already knew Elle was afraid of his feral side. _He_ was afraid of his feral side at times. Honestly, he couldn't understand what Elle even saw in him. He was a hundred year old shorty, covered in fur, with homicidal nightmares. Not to mention, every woman he's ever loved has been a target. Elle now, twice. _Why does she even-_

"Logan? I know you can hear me."

Logan perked up, and listened closely. She still loved him, and was waiting for him to come out. After several minutes passed with no answer, Elle started crying. Logan felt terrible, but still wasn't sure how to handle this. He almost killed her. The little girl that he raised into a beautiful young woman, was this close to becoming just another stain on his claws.

He paced around the room a little bit, until an idea came to his head. He didn't like it, and he knew _the other guy_ would hate it, but for Elle's sake he would do what he had to do. Later today, after the sun came up and when things had settled down, Logan was going to go down to Charles' office and see if he could help make the nightmares go away.

The guy had to have incredible telepathy powers if he was able to power a machine that could find anyone in the whole world, and plus Logan could tell he was keeping a hell of a lot of secrets from them. This whole 'debt' thing for one, and also Logan could vaguely recall encountering someone back in the sixties who looked like him. That guy had a close partner, though, and Charles does not. Someone like that doesn't just disappear.

First light peeking through the window woke Logan from his thoughts, so he swallowed his pride and came out of hiding. He opened the door, and found Elle had cried herself back to sleep. The first thing he did was check the damage to her hip, and though only two hours at most had passed, two of the three claw wounds had sealed. He covered her with a fresh blanket, and so as not to disturb her with his weight on the bed, pulled a chair over instead. He then picked up her hand, and kissed her forehead.

"I can't say for sure that I'll never make you cry again, darlin, but I'll do my damnedest."

* * *

A/N: Who's that 'close partner' Logan's talking about? And how did he have time between his beer and his "go fuck yourself" to turn around and see who he was even talking to? ;)


	15. Love

A/N: Remember how I said last chapter that I would definitely start the Remy hunting this time? I am, but the first half of the chapter ran a little long so I split them up into two chapters. I will post them both tonight. If you're looking for him, he's in the next chapter.

Also, remember again how I warned you at the beginning of the story about **a certain event** that was going to happen **between Elle and Logan**. It **happens here.** You are **warned.** ;)

* * *

When I woke up and found Logan sitting in a chair next to the bed, I was happy that I seemed to have gotten through to him. So I guess that's why I slapped him. "You're mean!"

He kept his eyes to the floor, and gave me a sad smile. "Yeah, I know."

"Why didn't you come out?"

"I don't know."

"Lay down on this bed and cuddle with me, right now!"

The look he gave me was priceless, but I wasn't giving in. So that's how the fierce Wolverine spent most of the day laying in bed, consoling a girl whose wound was healed before she even woke up. He got up to feed us, of course, and for one other reason.

"I'm gonna ask Charles if he can make them stop."

I was stunned. "You mean the nightmares? You're that upset? I don't want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable for my sake..."

Logan smiled at me, and shook his head. "No, trust me, I have this one coming. I mentioned it to him when I fetched your breakfast, and he said he'll help me out. He's gonna try and work me through the cause of them, and if that's a no go, he'll put up some kind of mental block so I don't react in the middle of the night."

"That's wonderful," I said, kissing him and twining our legs together. "Hey, um, we're leaving on our mission tomorrow, right? There's something I'd like to do before we go. Though, you're probably going to say no..."

"We'll do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't involve you leaving this bed," Logan chuckled. "Those are the doctor's orders, not mine."

"Oh, good. So Logan, um..." God, how am I going to ask this... "Iwantyoutomakelovetome!"

...Silence. Is he still there? I opened my eyes, and found him staring at me. Oh no, I made him mad, didn't I?

"It's going to hurt." Well, that was blunt.

"But it will feel good, too. You're not going to break me, Logan. I survived Creed's claws, I think I can survive your dick."

Logan busted out laughing, and rolled me over on the bed. "There's that mouth of yours, again. Where'd you ever get such a thing?"

"From the foul-mouthed, cigar chomping Canadian who dug me out of the snow," I answered, pulling his face to mine. He closed the gap and took my lips, nipping at the bottom before sliding his tongue inside.

He broke the kiss long enough to toss his shirt away, and resumed by nibbling down my neck and shoulders. Eventually he got impatient, and slid his hands up my nightgown. "This thing is in the way..."

"Put your claws away," I teased, quickly pulling the nightgown over my head and tossing it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, while his warm hands began massaging my breasts. I moaned into his mouth as he squeezed a nipple, and he moaned back as I moved my thigh against his crotch.

After kneading my chest until it was damn near sore, Logan turned his focus further south. He slid off my underwear and started kissing my hip, paying extra attention to where he had injured me. He backed off for a moment, worrying me, but then I saw it was to fetch some things from the nightstand.

"What's that?"

"Lubrication to make it easier," he said of the bottle in his one hand, "and insurance."

"Insurance against _what_?" I asked with a grin, knowing full well what the little foil wrapper in his other hand was for. He answered me by grabbing my waist and licking my navel.

"Insurance so this skinny waist of yours doesn't get any bigger, and we don't get any more smartass little Howletts running around here."

"Your last name's Howlett?"

"Shh!" Logan shushed my giggling with another kiss, and gently spread my legs. He knew I was trying to ease my own nervousness with these silly distractions, so he went slow and started by caressing the inside of my thigh.

"Here, give me your hand." When I did so, he poured a little of the lubricant onto my fingers.

"...Cold."

"Feels slimy, huh? Don't worry, it'll warm up. Go ahead and touch yourself."

I did as he said, biting my lip in embarrassment as he watched me stroke my most intimate area. When I closed my eyes for a moment, the sound of him undoing his pants made my entire body heat up. Then his weight was back on the bed, and I opened my eyes to his usual toothy grin.

As Logan held my head and kissed me, he placed his other hand atop mine and began poking around in my folds. His fingers were warm and slick from lubrication, and before long, I had lost all concentration on what I was doing.

He noticed, and quickly took over. "Make sure you tell me if I'm hurting you," he warned, and then I felt a jolt as he slid one of his fingers inside me. It was more of a surprise, and it actually felt kinda nice as he rocked back and forth. When he added a second finger and curled them, I just about went crazy.

"Think you're ready?"

Looking up at Logan made me realize that this whole time, he's probably been aching. I glanced down at his waist and blushed, he was hard and dripping. His size still intimidated me; he may be a short guy after all, but he was thick. Then again, he wouldn't have agreed to do this if he didn't think I was ready.

"Yeah. Give me the condom, I'll put it on for you."

I swear my hands didn't want to work on purpose, but I finally got it open with minimal laughter on Logan's part. My face turned red for the thousandth time as I put it on him, because he was so damn _warm_. And in about ten seconds, he was going to melt me. After slicking me back up and laying a pillow under my back, Logan got on top of me.

"Elle, like a bandaid, okay?"

Logan thrust in, and I immediately winced and dug my nails into his shoulders. I guess that wasn't so bad. He gave my body a few seconds to adjust to the intrusion before pulling back and thrusting again, this time making me cry out.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's the size." I'm fine when he doesn't move.

Logan hummed, and rolled us over. "I do weigh nearly three times as much as you do, that might be it. Try sliding up and down." I did as he suggested, and it felt a little better. Halfway through he started massaging the area where we were joined, and it felt wonderful. When his fingers found my clit, I fell forward and grabbed his shoulder.

"Ohh, Logan!"

"You're not gonna last much longer, are you?"

Even with the haze I was in, I didn't miss his little tease. So I threw it right back at him. "Shut up and fuck me, Wolverine!"

Logan growled in approval, simultaneously smashing our lips together and thrusting up into me. After a few moments he rolled us back over again, positioning himself on top. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he laid into me, and it wasn't long before I felt that coiling sensation build up in my abdomen.

"Hey, I'm gonna..."

That was his cue, and so Logan adjusted his angle and thrust in with a little more force, while simultaneously stimulating my clit. It worked, and knocked me over the edge. I called out his name and bucked against the bed, my mind going blank. Logan must have came too, because I heard him roar and next thing I knew the headboard had three new holes and a crack running through it.

"...Woah. Do you always impale things when you come?" I asked once he pulled out and laid down beside me.

"Only when I'm squeezed so damn tight," he joked, tossing the condom away. "Feel okay?"

"Feel _amazing_. Definitely worth the wait. Shame we had to fight to get here, though..."

"That wasn't a fight, that was me being an asshole," he corrected. "And it won't happen anymore, I promise. Because I love you, Elle, I really do. Even if I don't say it enough."

There was nothing I could say to top that, so I shimmied closer and laid against his chest. "I love you too, Logan."

* * *

A/N: Sorry I'm not the best person in the world at writing love scenes. Elle was very nervous, too, so that's why it seems a little out there.


	16. New Orleans

A/N: You're gonna read some weird stuff here, and I'd like to preface it with this: I've never been to New Orleans, I'm not very good at poker, the blackjack game outcomes were random, and Logan really thinks the best place to start looking for Remy is a titty bar. XD

The uniforms that Elle and Logan receive have actual references. Logan's uniform is just his Ultimate costume. If you look up the Earth 1610 Wolverine page on the Marvel Wikia, the current page image is almost exactly how this Logan looks. Elle's uniform is based off the character Kagero from the movie _Ninja Scroll_ , except with pants and a few practical changes. (Be careful looking that one up, lots of nudity in the movie.)

* * *

"You two look so cute."

Ororo sat in the copilot's seat of the jet, looking back over her shoulder as Scott flew them toward Louisiana. Logan was buckled into the bench in the back, with Elle snoozing beside him while wrapped around his arm.

"I agree, Storm, they make quite the cute couple," Kurt said, grinning from his seat behind her. "Elle is usually quite interested in our operation... What happened, Logan, did you tire her out last night?"

"Shut it, elf, or I'll cut your tail off," he scowled, drawing ire from their pilot.

"Alright, that's enough back there," Scott ordered. "We're almost to New Orleans, so get ready for landing. Storm, Nightcrawler, and I have a mission of our own to tend to, so we will be dropping you off. The Professor recommends you operate in plain clothes, but as a precaution we have prepared uniforms for you."

Kurt handed Logan a duffel bag, containing two uniforms for each of them. "Please tell me I get a spandex stripper costume like yours," Logan said as he opened it, digging at Scott. His was simple and to the point: climbing boots with good tread, black pants, black short sleeved shirt with a little color on the shoulders, and gloves with chutes for his blades.

"...Not bad, actually."

"Thank Jubilee, she's your fashion designer," Kurt chuckled. "No one else wanted to risk it."

"It's not _my_ costume that will get someone murdered," he replied, and pulled out Elle's. It was very modest, and earned his approval. The top of the reinforced outfit was made to resemble a wrap around tunic, and extended a bit below the belt almost like an actual ninja costume. To give her flexibility, the sleeves were loose and ended just above the elbow. She had arm coverings that looped around her middle finger instead of actual gloves, given the weapon she wielded. The rest of it resembled Logan's, though the boots were designed to keep her light on her feet. The arm wraps and tunic trim were purple, and Kurt even had a matching strap to hook her weapons to.

"The Professor came up with that outfit," Ororo commented. "He said that if we were going to have a master swordsman on the team, we could adjust our uniform to honor her culture accordingly. Plus if she wears her scabbard, it'll make the X." She pointed at the tunic.

"Heh, you people and your X-s. Next thing, you'll be calling yourself 'X-Men.'"

Everyone else in the jet burst into laughter, confusing the hell out of Logan and stirring Elle awake. "Mm, what'd I miss?"

* * *

"When are you gonna tell me?"

"Never."

"Spoil sport." Logan won't budge about what happened in the jet, other than that we've been accepted into the club with new uniforms. I love mine, it makes me look like a superhero. I put it on as soon as we got to the motel. It fits pretty well, except that my chest is bound a little tight. They gave me a little domino mask, but I don't like it. I'll come up with something cooler later. Logan tried his on too, and I kinda wanted to tear it back off right away and do naughty stuff. What's the point in wearing clothes if they're just going to stick to every muscle and bulge on your body? Knowing Logan, if we get into a fight, he's just going to end up shredding it anyway. Maybe they're saving fabric?

I thought it would be hard sneaking a sword around town, but then again, I've never been to New Orleans before. There were people _everywhere_ , and I saw more guns than I've ever seen in my life. Logan said that's just how the United States is, and not to worry about it. We decided that based on what we knew about the guy, it would be easiest to hunt for LeBeau after dark. Unfortunately, that also meant it would be more dangerous. Scott and the others had a mission in another city, so they left us here, but gave us communicators to call if we got in trouble. That was a last resort, since we didn't know how long it would take to bail us out. We'd have to survive on our own until they got here.

We changed into our most inconspicuous attire, and I grabbed my short sword since it was easier to hide. Logan produced a fake ID for me to get into the bars, though he said the places we'd be going probably didn't care unless you tried to actually order something.

"So you've been here before?"

"Don't remember that, but I do remember how bars work," he answered. "Let's try down by Bourbon Street, it's where all the titty bars are at."

WHAT? "I am NOT going in a titty bar!"

Logan started laughing. "Yeah, but titty bars attract idiots, and idiots carry a lot of cash. Didn't Charles' dossier say that this guy was raised by a group of thieves? He's probably a pickpocket, so he'll want to be hanging around the area with the best catch. Besides, I got all the titties I need stuffed into that tight little uniform, don't I?"

I'm defeated; looks like we're going to find the titty bars. We set out early enough to hit the street just as the night life was picking up, and found ourselves amongst a throng of activity that was prime for people watching. No one would notice if we camped out in one place, and we had the option of blending in with the crowd at a moment's notice if necessary.

We spent several hours moving through the bars in the upper section of Bourbon Street, with no luck. I spotted several mutants that weren't shy about exposing themselves, but no one with black eyes and auburn hair. By three in the morning I was exhausted, and Logan had already gotten in two fights. We retreated to the motel room, to try again tomorrow.

"Hey, we might be trying this the wrong way," I said once Logan was out of the shower. "What if we were looking in the wrong part of Bourbon Street?"

He flopped down on the musty motel bed. "What do you mean?"

"While you and that one guy were trying to kill each other, the girl he thought you were hitting on told me about the other end of _Rue Bourbon_. Maybe this Remy is down there."

"We just didn't get there yet," he mumbled. "You couldn't have expected us to cover the whole street in one day. We'll go after we get some rest."

"You do know what this means, right?" I glanced at the dark hair covering his chest, and disappearing down beneath his towel. "Mr. Bear?"

The eyebrow he cocked said he didn't.

"They're not going to be eyeing me up anymore, Logan. Lower Bourbon is the gay district, and you're Grade A premium beef. _My beef_ , but still."

Logan growled. "This complicates things. A man and woman wandering around in the gay district will attract attention. Unless..."

"What?"

"You could pretend to be my sister, and I could say I was taking you out so that no one would hit on you." He shrugged. "That's the best I can come up with. If anyone tries to hit on me, well..."

"Tell them you're committed," I hissed. "It might work. Then again, LeBeau could be in another town in another country."

"Too bad Cerberus or whatever doesn't work on him..."

" _Cerebro_ ," I corrected, and laid my head on his shoulder. I was out in minutes.

* * *

Logan's story worked, though I wonder how many bouncers really thought I was his sister. We scoured the lower end and came up with nothing. Calling it quits for the night, we decided to stay in the final bar and have a few drinks, as a celebration of our failure. I only had one before a poker game in the corner caught my eye, and left Logan at the bar to go watch it.

Most of the people playing were losers, as in absolute failures. They didn't know when to hold or when to throw away their crap cards, they folded when they should have called, and worst of all they kept putting themselves in hock.

The dealer was interesting. He played these guys for fools like an expert, handing out cards like a Vegas veteran, yet he had a ragged trench coat draped over the back of his chair. His fedora wasn't as badly damaged, and gave him a bit of class. I wonder how good he is?

"Aw man, I'm out! Shit, nothing left..."

I saw one of the idiots go under, so I stepped up to the table and spoke up. "How much do I need to join in?"

Another idiot looked at me and scoffed. "A woman? Ha! Since when do women know poker? I think you're in the wrong bar, sweetie."

I could just barely see the dealer scowling at him under his hat, before he turned to me. "The large blind is one hundred, and the small is fifty. Interested?"

"Logan will probably kill me," I said as I threw a handful of twenties on the table and sat down. The dealer laughed and proceeded, issuing the cards. I watched as he did so, and my theory about his experience was right. This guy was a clear card shark.

"Well, _petite_ , your move," he said. I took my turn, and smiled when the other two losers ended up folding. I did pretty well for myself, ending up with three of a kind to the dealer's full house. Not bad for only my third or fourth time playing poker.

Once the idiots got fed up and left, the dealer randomly switched to blackjack. Fine by me, not that it matters but I know how to count cards if I must.

"So what is a girl like you doing in a bar at the lower end of _Rue Bourbon_?" he asked, as I won my first two rounds.

"I came with my, uh, brother. He's over there at the bar," I answered, pointing out Logan as he raised his voice at the hockey game rerunning on the television. "I get hit on too much at the regular bars."

"Your face is memorable," he said, taking my nineteen with a twenty. "If someone as pretty as you were available, you'd be worth chasing."

"But you're not interested in me, are you?" My seventeen held steady as he went over. "You just said we were in the _lower end_..."

Twenty and twenty, a tie. " _L'amour c'est l'amour._ Remy's not a fan of labels."

...Wait a second, what did he say? I took a good look at the guy's face- his eyes were still shadowed by that damn hat, but his hair was auburn and he looked in his mid twenties. He had a Creole accent, and quick reflexes judging by his card skills. Time for a little test.

There was an ornamental tie pin in the bet pile, so I grabbed it and freed the needle. Looking right at him, I jammed the pin in the back of my hand and dragged it across my skin until I had a sizeable scratch. Once I withdrew it and wiped the small amount of blood away, it had already healed and was just a pink blur.

"That's an impressive little trick," he said. "Pity you couldn't do the same for that nasty old scar across your arm..."

I realized then that the large scar on the underside of my forearm was visible, the same scar I've had since I was a little girl. "That couldn't be helped," I grumbled and turned my arm over. "But I might be able to help you with something."

The man I'm pretty sure was Remy tensed, and gathered the cards from the table. "That _brother_ of yours, can he take care of himself?"

"Yeah, what-"

"Good," he said, grabbing his coat and pulling me toward the back exit. I had just enough time to shout to Logan, who turned around to find Sabretooth standing near the entrance.

* * *

A/N: Remy's French line translates to "Love is love." He's trying to say that he doesn't care if his partner is a man or a woman, as long as they're right for him.


	17. Gambit

A/N: My apologies for the delay with this chapter. I haven't been feeling well, so I was only able to get half of what I planned written. I hope I don't disappoint, I'm still trying to work up a solid characterization for Remy that takes the _five minutes_ he was in the movie (grr...) and what I remember from the cartoon I watched as a kid and make it fit with the story I have in mind.

 **Note** , there is reminiscence of child abuse toward the end of this chapter, and it's not pretty.

* * *

"You better have a good reason why you brought that _connard_ with you to my city!"

"I didn't bring him here!" I shouted as we ran through the back alley behind the bar. Once we rounded the corner, I skidded to a stop and looked back. "We can't just leave Logan..."

"You said big guy could take care of himself," my irritated companion argued as he threw his coat on and checked if we were being followed. "Now come on, where that guy goes, trouble usually follows. We need to move!"

"But Logan- !?" Before I could finish my sentence, I was suddenly upended and thrown over this guy's shoulder like some little child. In my struggle, I accidentally elbowed him. "You put me down right now!"

" _Désolé_ , but Remy don't have time to argue." He continued down the alley with me throwing a fit, and didn't stop until I saw his hat go flying off his head with a telltale bullet hole right through the crown.

"LeBeau! Hold it right there, or you'll get one in your leg!" Three feet in front of us stood a soldier, dressed in gear that resembled what I remembered the guards at Stryker's base wearing. I hoped it was just my own paranoia making the link. "Put the woman down!"

"...If you insist." Remy lifted me off his shoulder, but as he did, he snuck his hand up my shirt and opened the clip securing my blade to my back. "You might want to put your hands up, _ma chère_." I did as he suggested, and watched as he turned back to the soldier.

"Are you _really_ going to shoot us? After coming all this way, spending all those years chasing me from place to place... It would be such a waste, _non_? Maybe you should lower the gun. It wouldn't be a good idea to fire on us. Plus it would only make us mad. Go ahead, put it down."

Surprisingly enough, the soldier did as Remy suggested and lowered his weapon. I took it as an opportunity and threw my blade into his arm, causing him to drop the gun completely. Remy then flung something at him, which exploded and took him out.

"Finally got the hint, eh?" he said as I retrieved my blade and confiscated the gun. "Took you long enough to throw that thing..."

"What _was_ that?"

"What was what?"

"Don't play dumb, you did something to him." I huffed and pointed at the fallen soldier. "Those types don't just do gown without a fight. Are you telepathic, too?"

"Remy ain't no telepath," he grumbled, "so don't be spreading that lie around. Don't need them coming after me for anything else. Let's just say it's my natural Cajun charm."

What a bad liar. "...Well whatever it is, don't you dare use it on me or I'll smack your face off. Now watch out, where there's one, there's usually-"

I didn't finish that sentence, because this time they shot at me and didn't even bother with a warning. I got hit in my calf and immediately crumpled, though oddly enough my first instinct was to curse and not scream. I'll blame Logan for that. Remy immediately located the shooter and turned him into a smear on the pavement with his exploding thingies, which in my haze I now realized were playing cards.

" _Merde_!" He pulled me into his lap and inspected my leg, noting that the bullet seemed to be lodged in my bone. "Please tell me that fancy trick of yours works on bullet wounds."

"They never tested that!" I hissed, ripping the pant leg off and using it to stem the bleeding. "We need Logan, now. Throw me over your shoulder and run back to the bar, I'll just shoot at anybody following us!"

"You'll just have to shoot at anyone in front of us because _I am not going back to that bar_ ," he yelled, picking me up and resuming his erratic run through New Orleans' back alleys. His sudden switch to first person really caught my attention. "You may have been too young to remember it, but I know exactly what that blonde _violeur_ did to your mother and you. No fucking way am I putting you any closer to him."

Hold on a minute. The Professor said Remy might recognize me, but how does he know so much about what they did? "What are you talking about? I remember what Creed did to me, are you saying there was more? How do you even know all this?"

"I knew who you were the second you stepped in that bar, _petite_ ," he explained as we ducked around a corner and into a seemingly abandoned building. "Funny, I never thought I'd see you again, and with Stryker's praised 'Weapon X' to boot." After checking that we weren't followed, he opened up a hidden door revealing a small apartment. "Safe house. Anyway, you and your mother were caught shortly after I was. Twelve year olds who've been raised as thieves observe _everything_ , and being that I'm ocularly gifted myself, of course I noticed the baby girl with the bright green eyes."

Remy sat me down on his bed and got his makeshift first aid kit, then set to work fishing the bullet out of my calf. "I felt so bad, I mean, here I thought I was one of the youngest and then they go and drag a baby in. You and your mother didn't even have real powers. Well, you have that healing thing, but I really think your gift is the power of survival. Some of the shit they did to you should have killed you, healing or not. ... _Bon sang_ , the bullet's stuck."

"And what shit are you talking about?" I asked, staring him straight in the eyes. The worst I remember is when the shaved the little patch off my leg, or when Sabretooth carved this line in my arm. The tone of his voice implied that they did something much more horrifying.

Remy was quiet for a while. "...It started right after your mother died. I remember because my energy manipulation had just recently manifested and they were experimenting on me in one of the main rooms. You were there, and you wouldn't stop crying for your mother. Stryker said if you didn't stop, he'd..."

"What? What did he do?"

"Sabretooth wrenched your arm right out of its socket. I heard your bones snap from the other side of the room, and then the scream you made... It was worse than the ones that came from Weapon X." He shuddered just thinking about it. "Your arm was still attached, but... From the way it hung there, I'm surprised you were ever able to move it again."

"They must have operated on me to realign it," I mumbled, rubbing my shoulder. I honestly couldn't remember any of this, and I certainly never had other prisoners in the room with me while I was being experimented on. "Were there any other times you were there?"

"Yeah, one other time," he said. "The day they pulled your arm out, I was so shocked I actually said something to them about it. Sabretooth gave me a black eye and damn near busted my jaw off for it. 'Mind your own business,' he said. The next time you were around, I, I overheard them say they wanted a sample of your uterine tissue. And that they were going to go through your legs to go after it."

I gasped in horror. I was around five when my mother died, very small and very vulnerable. The gaps in my memory could have been caused by a blocking out such a traumatic and violating experience. That would also explain why I didn't remember Remy.

"I was so pissed off, I charged one of the mad scientist's shirts and sent him flying into a wall. That got me quite the beating," he lowered his head, "and unfortunately I was no longer worked on in the same room as you. Had I realized I had my charming ability, I would have used it to stop what they were doing, but I didn't develop it for another year. It's eventually what let me escape."

Remy paused, and laid a hand on my shoulder. "I would have liked to have helped you, but Sabretooth was all over you after what I did. By the time I was sixteen, you were one of Stryker's favorites, so you had been moved closer to his office where the two of them could keep an eye on you. If I had risked going to you, neither one of us would have survived."

"It's okay, Remy," I assured him. "Logan got me out not long after you escaped, and he's been with me ever since then. That's why I care about him so much. He's my family."

"...Family is important, isn't it?" Remy smiled, then stood and grabbed a staff from the corner. "I'll go fetch your Logan for you, then. You really think _ton frère_ is holding up against that monster?"

"What does _ton frère_ mean?" I asked, stuffing gauze into the hole in my leg so it wouldn't close until we got the bullet out.

"Your brother."

"That was an act," I admitted. "Logan just fought Sabretooth a few weeks ago when he almost killed me. That fight was onesided in Logan's favor, but then again I was nearly raped and on the edge of death. To say he was enraged is an understatement."

" _Mais oui,_ Logan _est ton coeur, non?_ "

I shook my head in confusion. "Logan knows French, not me."

"You two are in love," he chuckled, coming over and urging me to lay down. "Just take it easy, _petite_ , I'll go help claw-man and bring him back to you. Anything I should be made aware of before I go?"

"Yeah." I unlooped my knife holster and handed it to him. "Take this with you, I wore it against my bare skin so it's the strongest thing I've got with my scent on it. You might need something to wake Logan up with."

He shrugged and threw up his hands. "You lost Remy with that one."

"There's a high chance that when you walk into that bar, you won't find Logan," I explained. "He doesn't need to hold back this time. No, when you go back there, you're going to find the Wolverine. And it's not going to be pretty."


	18. Two Ferals Walk Into A Bar

A/N: I think I'm satisfied with this part. I tried to be creative with the fight, and I think I have something entertaining. Hopefully. Sabretooth's manners are nasty in this chapter, though, and I don't consider what he says entertaining. He's the bad guy here, so don't repeat what he says.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. This chapter marks the point where the story has hit 30,000 words without notes, and coincidentally I've also gone over 3000 views. Lots of 3s. :) I do appreciate your support, along with your comments.

* * *

Logan turned his attention to the door the second he heard Elle shouting, and was none to pleased to find Creed and a trio of soldiers blocking the entrance. He'd been listening as best he could to Elle's conversation, and knew that despite not knowing a damn thing about the stranger in the purple shirt and fedora, she was a hell of a lot safer running out the back with him than staying in the bar.

"Well well, look what we have here. A furry runt in a Louisiana bar... You sure do get around for someone who's trying to hide," Sabretooth sneered as he spotted Logan. "Came to get me a red eyed skinny shit, not a child loving runt."

"What's so important about LeBeau that you have to chase him for a decade anyway, Creed? And why you letting Stryker pussy whip you around?" Logan stalled, trying to give the patrons in the bar enough time to flee before he and Sabretooth lost control. He could already feel his hold over his feral side slipping, and his claws were just itching to burst from within his forearms.

"Funny you should bring up the boss, Jimmy. You know, he was always rather interested in your Nip girlfriend. He'll be rather intrigued to see she survived our little love romp in the cabin. I'll bet he would just love to see what else she can handle. That was her that ran out the back right? Dark brown hair and a baby face? Go get her, gents."

 _Snap_. Logan's hold on the berserker inside him officially broke, and with a roar he popped his claws and launched toward the soldiers on their way to find Elle. Sabretooth was ready, however, and dove straight at Logan's midsection, knocking him back and letting the guards escape.

"You know, runt, I've still got about eighty pounds on you with the adamantium lacing they did. Won't do ya much good to try the old battering ram technique."

Logan shut him up with an elbow to the jaw, then grabbed his shoulders and threw him around into the bottle cabinets behind the bar. Logan jumped onto the bar to deliver another strike, but Sabretooth recovered and tackled him into the floor, fingernails buried into the sides of Logan's face.

"I came here for LeBeau, but I'm just as pleased with ripping you to pieces, Wolverine." Logan winced as Sabretooth continued to claw at his face, but he used the opportunity to bury his claws into Creed's stomach. When he howled, Logan curled his legs and used the momentum to kick Sabretooth off.

Sabretooth smashed into the stools by the bar, and seconds later Logan dove and slashed at his ankles. Logan knew Creed didn't quite have the healing capability that he had, so any adamantium lacing would have been limited to the stronger areas like his skeleton and claws. That left his joints as a weakness, and Logan was determined to use it to his advantage. No ankles, no standing.

"Oh no you don't," Sabretooth hissed, catching on to Logan's plan after reeling from the first slash. He kicked out with his other leg and sent Logan skittering back, knocking one of his teeth out. Logan grabbed a table and threw it at him in retaliation, and while he was distracted swatting it away, Logan drove both sets of claws straight into his elbow.

"AHH, FUCK!" Sabretooth shouted in pain and growled as Logan pinned him to the floor with his claws, and ground his boot into his stomach. "Jimmy, you son of a bitch!"

"That's not my name!" Logan kicked Sabretooth in the jaw and attempted to drag his claws through Creed's flesh, trying his damnedest to sever his arm without withdrawing them. That's how Creed got away last time, and he was not going to let that happen again. He was just about through, when he heard the cocking of a gun and suddenly felt the very annoying sting of a bullet in his temple. One of the damn soldiers had come back.

Logan dropped, momentarily disoriented by the bullet but aware of Sabretooth kicking him away. At the same time, he saw a streak go flying through the air and explode upon contact with the jackass who had shot at him. He looked over and saw the guy who had run out with Elle back in the bar, now jumping onto the counter and smacking a stick of some sort across Sabretooth's head. Creed was not amused.

Looking right at Logan, Remy urged him up. " _Mon ami_ , bad time for sleeping, _non_?"

The minute Remy stepped into the bar, it was as if Sabretooth had completely forgotten about Logan. "You little shit, you're dead!"

" _Au contraire_ , Remy feel pretty alive tonight." Slightly quicker than Sabretooth, Remy threw a handful of charged cards in his face and smacked his head, before sliding down from the bar and running over to Logan. "Get your ass up, _maintenant_!"

Logan shook off the disorientation and charged at Sabretooth, going straight for the arm he had attacked. It looked like it had started to heal, but had to be weak on the inside because Creed was favoring it. Remy threw as many charged objects as he could as a distraction, and eventually charged the section of floor that Logan and Creed were fighting on. It was risky, since it would hurt Logan as well, but the shock was enough that Logan succeeded in severing Sabretooth's forearm.

Seeing a chance to escape, Remy used his staff to break a chunk of the ceiling and trap Sabretooth, effectively pausing the fight. "Logan! _Mon ami_ , we need to go!"

Just as Elle predicted, Logan didn't want to do anything besides beat Sabretooth into a bloody pulp. Even Remy practically dragging him to the door didn't work, in fact it got him a slash across the arm.

Remy frowned, looking at the hole in his sleeve and his bloody arm. " _D'accord_." His rapid fire mind already had a plan b ready, though, so he steeled himself for what might be the race of his life. Withdrawing the holster that Elle had given him, he extended his staff and cracked Logan in the back of the head.

Logan had been crouched in front of the rubble pile confining Sabretooth, claws extended and ready to pounce. So he was rather irritated when he was smacked in the head from behind, and turned to find the cajun kid winking at him and dangling something from his finger while making kissy faces. He rose to stick a fist in the guy's gut and shut him up, when he caught the scent coming from the object. Ginger, lotion, books, _green eyes_...

The fierce growl coming from Logan told Remy that the Wolverine sensed his mate, and that it was time to _run_. That cajun was out of there in a heartbeat. " _Mon Dieu_ , dis what Remy get for bein' nice..." Remy took off toward the safe house, just barely managing to stay ahead of the testosterone and rage filled beast chasing him.

Remy had just made it to the abandoned building when Logan overtook him, and pinned him to the ground. Logan could smell Elle all over him, and it drove him mad. _How_ dare _he get so close to her?! His chest, his shoulders, and his fingers... I smell her blood on his fingers!_

Logan fumed, and rose his arm to impale his claws through Remy's smug little face. He was still so deep in his feral rage, he didn't even remember why they had come to New Orleans in the first place or that Remy was the guy they were here to help. This guy touched, no, _hurt_ his mate, therefore this guy was going to die.

Claws unsheathed, and Logan's arm started to come down, when he heard something faint that made him stop barely a centimeter from Remy's face. It sounded like Elle's voice, and she was calling to him. He turned his head toward the wall that hid the safe house, hearing her through the wall as she mumbled in her sleep. That's how he missed Remy slipping a hand up to his claws, and the cause of the sudden violent rush of energy that spiked through his body, overloading his healing factor and knocking him out in seconds.


	19. Le Glouton

A/N: **Disclaimer** : You can not make your own nyquil by pouring liquor and tylenol into gatorade. Do not attempt to imitate anything Mr. Bad Parenting does under any circumstances. ;)

* * *

 _The thunder was strong in the sky, and not too shortly after, rain began pelting everything in sight. They were running, or more accurately Logan was running, as Elle was curled up in a ball pressed against his chest. Her skin was on fire, her temperature far greater than the usual ninety nine degrees or so that her eight year old body ran at. She had been coughing and wheezing for a few days, her eyes were pink and crusty, and to top it off, she had a rash of little red spots all over her body._

 _Logan couldn't understand what was going on. Elle seemed to have contracted the measles, pneumonia, and pink eye all at once, yet her mutant physiology should have made her immune to such simple diseases. Unable to bear seeing her in pain, he set aside his pride and headed out from the apartment to take Elle to a doctor._

 _Unfortunately, during the walk through town, they were spotted by a prison guard who happened to be on Stryker's payroll. He recognized Logan as Weapon X, and outed him as a mutant. Logan had no choice but to run, as the guard and his cronies began firing on them._

 _The rain helped distract his pursuers, giving Logan a chance to get away. As he was running, Elle stirred and opened her eyes. Her entire body ached and it was a struggle to breathe, but seeing Logan made it worthwhile. The expression on his face frightened her, however. A mix of anger and concern covered his normally stoic countenance._

"Logan..."

 _Logan heard the tiny voice as he ran into a parking lot, and squeezed Elle closer to his chest. "Hey darlin, hang in there for me, okay? Slight change of plan." He looked around at the few cars and picked the one with the most gasoline, then broke the lock and got in. He laid Elle in the front seat, then used a claw to force the ignition._

 _Just before leaving town, Logan stopped at a convenience store and bought every packet of medicine they had. Taking a bottle of Gatorade and adding a little liquor to it, he dissolved some of the pills and made his own Nyquil before gently waking Elle back up. "Hey, sleepyhead can you hear me?"_

 _Elle cooed and cracked an eye open, finding Logan holding a bottle in front of her face. "Baby, I need you to drink this, okay? Hopefully it makes some of the pain go away." She nodded as best she could and parted her lips, cringing when the liquid hit her tongue._

 _"Icky."_

 _"Yeah, I know. But until I figure out why you're not getting better, it's the best I've got." Logan helped her drink half the bottle, before starting the car and peeling out of the parking lot. "Sorry darlin, but we gotta run again. A few assholes made me as a mutant, so we can't stay here. But don't worry, I'll get you somewhere safe. I'll take care of you. I always will..."_

I opened my eyes from a rather vivid dream, realizing as I heard thunder in the distance that it was a memory. A memory of the time I got sick, because I had managed to catch several debilitating diseases at once that completely overloaded my healing ability. If Logan hadn't been there for me...

Just then I heard the door slide open, and sat up to see Remy stagger through. He looked completely exhausted, as though he had been through hell. I was about to ask what happened when I noticed his right arm held close to his chest, the sleeve of his coat slashed and soaked in blood. His other arm was behind him, dragging something into the safe house. My eyes followed and saw it was his belt, tied with another one and looped under the shoulders of a large unconscious man with black hair.

" _LOGAN!_ " I screamed and nearly jumped off the bed, but Remy rushed over and kept me where I was. He shook his head and pointed to my leg, before sighing and letting go.

" _Désolé_ , Elle, but you better stay back," he warned. "Logan is still _le glouton_ right now. Your belt didn't exactly bring him back to sanity. He's alive, just unconscious."

On the edge of tears I watched Remy struggle to drag Logan inside, all kinds of terrible thoughts going through my head. Why was he unconscious? His clothing was torn and bloody as I expected it to be, but what exactly did Sabretooth do to him that overloaded his immense healing factor? Not even injecting molten adamantium into his bones did that!

"Remy, what... what did Creed do to him?"

With much difficulty, Remy finally got Logan out of the doorway and into the apartment. "Not Sabretooth, _ma chère_." He then stripped everything to his waist on his way to the bathroom, and I couldn't help but gasp. Remy's arm was not his only injury- his back was bright red, as though he had been tackled into a brick wall. There were dark bruises forming on his shoulders, clear markers that he had been pinned down. His breathing suggested he had a few bruised or broken ribs. Additionally, there was a slight stream of blood running down the back of his neck indicating that he'd hit his head when he was taken down.

The most startling injury was his arm. He was using his other hand to cover it, but as he shuffled into the bathroom I caught a glimpse between his fingers. The wound was thankfully not too deep, but was a set of three evenly spaced gashes. I had assumed Sabretooth was the one who slashed him. I was wrong. "Remy, let me see your arm."

" _Non, chère_ , Remy can take care of dis."

"What happened, Remy? Did Logan give you those injuries on your back as well?" I slid out of bed despite his protests, and limped over to him. He put up his hands to push me back, incidentally giving me a good look at the gash. Logan had indeed slashed at him, though it seemed to be more of a warning than an attempt at injury. The damage to his back, though, that encounter was clearly meant to kill. I grabbed the first aid kit, and shoved Remy onto the bed. "Tell me what happened, right now."

He sighed, and got serious. "Logan is unconscious because of me. He chased me because I taunted him with your belt, and I guess he thought I made you mine or something. I was doing well until he tackled me just now, and I seriously thought he was going to kill me."

"He probably was. Logan can smell your fear."

"Well he must have smelled something else," Remy explained, "because when his claws were a hair's breadth from sending me to meet the Holy Father, he stopped. So I did the only thing I could think of that might stop him, I used my ability to charge his skeleton."

My eyes widened. "You _what_? You could have killed him!"

"What else was I to do? He was about to gut me, and possibly even you," Remy snapped back. "He pulled Sabretooth's arm off back there, but he didn't kill him. That means Creed'll be back, and now twice as angry with both of us. It was either let Logan kill me, or do something he'll probably recover from so he can fight back. The choice was obvious!"

Furious and on the verge of tears, I threw the first aid kit in Remy's lap and sat down on the floor beside Logan. I heard Remy mutter in French and withdraw to the bathroom, so I laid my head on Logan's chest and started talking to him, hoping he would hear me and wake up. It was a silly idea, but it might help. Eventually I fell asleep again, waking a few hours later to a strange beeping noise.

"That's the fourth or fifth time your mobile's gone off," Remy mumbled from the bed, a cigarette hanging from his lips. "You don' answer it, Remy gon' throw it out the window."

A mobile, as in mobile phone? I don't have a... That's when I remembered the communicator Scott had given us. I fished around in Logan's pocket and found the device, though it looked like it had been a little damaged. I had trouble unfolding it, and once I did I had no idea which buttons to push. "Uhh..."

"'Dere usually a green button," Remy suggested, so I pushed it and waited. The silence turned into static, and soon there was an answer from Scott on the other end.

 _"Logan! Where have you been? You missed the check in and we've been trying to contact you for the last two hours! Don't tell me you're late because you were fooling around with..."_

"Logan's hurt," I blurted out, stung by his comments. I know Scott doesn't like us, but to assume we didn't contact him because we were just dicking around? I heard a woman scolding him in the background, but it didn't matter. I just shoved the communicator off to Remy and laid back down atop Logan.

 _"Elle? Elle, it's Ororo. We're coming right away! Where are you at? Elle?"_

"Elle don' wanna talk no more, your male comrade upset her," Remy explained. "You're talking to Remy LeBeau now. We're in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This fancy looking thing have a tracker in it?"

 _"Yes, there's a blue button near the bottom that will activate a locator,"_ she replied. _"Elle said there were injuries, how bad are they?"_

"Elle's got a bullet lodged in her leg that Remy couldn't get out, and the big man's unconscious. He might be out for a while or only for an hour, don't know how long."

 _"Okay, stay where you are. We're on our way."_

Remy activated the locator, and closed the communicator. "Hear that, _petite_? Your rescue ship is on its way."

"...They'll rescue you, too, you know? That's the whole reason we came here," I admitted. "If you don't come back with us, it means all this was for nothing."

Remy smiled as he helped me up from the floor. " _Au contraire_ , you got to see Remy again. That has to stand for something, non? Now, have to get _le glouton_ off the floor before company arrives..."

* * *

A/N: "Le glouton" is French for, you guessed it, the wolverine.


	20. Back Home

A/N: We might as well call this the "multilingual chapter". In addition to English, there's German, French, and Japanese. I apologize if I got the German wrong, as I never took classes on that one, and the French I only took in high school (which was a long time ago). Kurt says "my dear", and Remy you should be able to figure out from context. The Japanese will have a translation at the end.

* * *

Remy overexerted himself trying to get Logan off the floor, so I was standing over him on the bed checking his injuries when a flash and cloud of smoke appeared right next to me. I screamed and Remy pulled me away, then grabbed the closest thing he could reach and prepared to throw it at the figure emerging from the sulfuric smelling smoke.

"Wait, _meine liebste_ , it's me. It's me!"

Kurt stepped forward with his hands in the air, coaxing a sigh of relief out of me but making Remy tense up. "I thought you said you never teleported where you couldn't see?" I asked, but in reality I was grateful he had come.

"You are right, but this time I had to risk it," he said as he looked around, cringing at Logan propped up against the bed but relieved at the door behind him. "Ah, may I?"

" _Oui_ ," Remy muttered. He then squeezed my arm as he watched Kurt turn around. " _C'est un diable bleu!_ " he whispered.

"What?"

"A blue devil!"

"Well, what about you, _Monsieur Diable Blanc_?" I teased, patting his cheek as he narrowed his red eyes at me. "Kurt's not a devil, he's an elf." I looked back as Kurt finally figured out how to unlock the decoy door, and saw Ororo come running in.

"Elle, are you here?" She saw Logan first and her eyes went wide, then noticed me and Remy on the bed. "Elle! Kurt, take Logan back to the jet."

"Ugh, he's heavy," Kurt groaned, but got a hold on him and quickly teleported away.

Ororo came and inspected my leg, then looked over and saw the slashes and large amount of bruising covering Remy. "You didn't tell me you were injured as well! What happened?"

"Remy had worse than dis," he muttered, acting smooth until a cough made him wince in pain. "...Maybe."

Ororo narrowed her eyes, before pressing on the communicator in her ear. "Scott, alert Hank that it's three injured, not two. Kurt, if you would..." Kurt reappeared in the room, just as Ororo helped me up. "We retrieved your gear from the motel room. Is there anything you need from here?"

We all turned and looked at Remy, who let out a exasperated chuckle. "You really gon' make Remy come with you, huh?"

"Remy, if Logan were awake, he'd probably convince you," I shrugged. "Truth is, we don't know if we're staying with them or not yet. But they offered us a safe haven while asking little in return. Don't you want something like that?"

"...Maybe it'd be nice for a little while," he admitted. "But only if you're there. You run, Remy runs, _d'accord_?"

I nodded, so Remy threw a shirt on and grabbed what he needed to keep. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of Kurt transporting him, but it was over and done with before he could even protest. Ororo flew me up to the jet, which was parked on the roof. On the way, I explained what happened and why Logan was unconscious. She understood why Remy did what he did, because apparently the Professor had warned them about Logan's feral side.

The flight back to the mansion was mostly silent. Logan and Remy were both strapped down to stretchers in the back. Logan I could understand, but I still don't understand how Ororo managed to get Remy to cooperate. There was a lot of protesting, and possibly some cursing (he kept calling her _ma déesse_ , I don't know what that means), but eventually he surrendered. I sat in a chair and poked at my leg. I don't think my gauze trick worked, because it felt like the skin grew back over top of it. I hope Hank likes to dig.

No surprise that when we landed, all three of us were shunted off to the med lab. After explaining what Remy did to Logan, Hank decided it was best to just hook him up to vital monitors and let his body do the work for now, since we didn't know very much about adamantium or Remy's powers. Jean was put in charge of examining and treating Remy, which amused me greatly because he would not stop hitting on her.

That left Hank to treat my leg, which he did have to operate on because the gauze got stuck. Of course, we had no certainty that general anesthesia would work, so he decided to try a local and just hope I didn't hurt too much. I was bracing myself for the pain, when a different sort of pain burst into the room.

"Nooo! You can't be hurt!"

Hank started his usual 'polite cursing' as Jubilee ran in and compromised his sterile operating environment, throwing herself on top of me and whimpering into my chest.

"Hey, I'm okay. Some jerk just got lucky and shot me in the leg, that's all." I patted her head and motioned for her to get up and see, so she craned her neck for a peek.

"...Sniff. Then what are you waiting for, Dr. Hank, get the damn thing out!"

"I was trying to do that before you came running in here, Jubilation," Hank grumbled. "Perhaps you need to reread the chapter in your textbook about the importance of a _sterile operating environment_."

"Yeah yeah, wash your hands, don't chew gum, keep your fur tied back." Jubilee grabbed a pair of gloves and leaned over the tray of tools. "So where we starting?"

The exasperated sigh from Hank told me we were going to have a new nurse for the procedure. "At least get out of that dirty yellow coat first."

"Yessir!"

* * *

Remy was diagnosed with a concussion and two cracked ribs, and put on bed rest. He was also ordered to stay away from Jean, lest he get a laser hole through the midsection. Funny how the tables have turned, now that the ogler has become the oglee. It's not like Remy meant it anyway, he probably hits on everything that moves. I'll bet it didn't help that he snapped at Scott over the communicator. There's a first impression blown...

Since Remy had the same aversion to laboratories as I had, Hank agreed to let him rest in an actual bedroom instead. The Professor gave him a room right across the hall from ours on the third floor, since he was a guest and not a teacher. It was nice to have someone else up there besides me and Logan, though I couldn't help thinking of it as the weirdo floor. Jubilee and Ororo made a habit of visiting us (especially because the greenhouse was up there), but no one else liked coming up.

Oddly enough, I noticed Remy got along really well with Ororo. When he was released to his room, she helped him find supplies, and he didn't threaten to kill her when she kept confiscating his cigarettes. I just had to ask. "You like her, don't you?"

"Stormy, _l'amour_? No, Remy not that way with her," he replied. "Met her before, when dis Cajun was much younger. She didn't judge," he pointed to his eyes. "Very good woman. Can pick locks like she got a key. Remy tease and call her _ma déesse,_ but she really is a goddess."

"She didn't judge us either," I said of our relationship. I guess she really is one of the good ones here. "I'm going back down to be with Logan. Do you need anything before I go?"

"More cigarettes would be nice..."

"I'm not old enough for those," I teased, throwing him the pack of cards I brought instead. "You'll just have to make do with these. Don't blow anything up."

"No promises, _ma chère_ ," he said with a wink.

* * *

Limping through the mansion was a pain, but I finally made it to the med lab. Logan was in his same spot, laying on a gurney and hooked up to monitors. I really hoped he wouldn't freak out when he woke up, because that's exactly what I would do in the same situation. I didn't have razor sharp claws to stab anyone with, though. I started talking to him again, letting him know that Remy survived his tackle without any permanent damage and that Jubilee was going to paff him if he didn't wake up soon.

"You're not allowed to die on me," I reminded him. "We've barely started our journey, you know. Just because Ogami dies at the end doesn't mean you can too. He didn't die until his sword broke. Look." I picked up Logan's arm, then I did something that only I know how to do. I found a spot at the end of Logan's forearm and pushed, causing the claws in that arm to come shooting out. It was a trick I learned when I was a little girl, and even he couldn't repeat it. I ran my fingers down the insides of the blades and continued, "Ogami died right after his sword broke. These aren't broken, so that means you aren't supposed to die. Now wake up and put them away for me."

Nothing.

I sat his arm down and leaned on the table. " _Aishiteru_ , Logan. _Dakara, shinu na yo_."

* * *

A/N: Elle said "I love you, Logan. So don't die on me." She also talks like a man, because a man taught her Japanese (said man may be the best there is at what he does, but he does best isn't picking up on the subtleties of a foreign language). XD

And Remy was not swearing at 'Ro. He called her "my goddess", as a nod to their sibling-like relationship in the comics. Another thing the movies goofed if you asked me...


	21. How to Anger Hank

A/N: I'm trying something a little different with this chapter. So far, all of the chapters with Elle have been from her POV, with Logan's parts in third person while she is sleeping or unconscious. Since this chapter focuses on Logan, it will be third person even though Elle is awake.

There is also a little naughty. But not too much naughty, because someone doesn't know the difference between "public" and "private"...

* * *

 _"LOGAN!"_

 _"Please wake up... I can feel your heart beating, but that's not enough. I need you awake."_

 _"Don't get mad, but I have a bullet stuck in my leg. The guy who did it is already dead."_

 _"I love you, even when you're more Wolverine than Logan."_

 _"That one eyed jerk thought we were screwing around instead of checking in. How could he be so cruel? Him and his redhead, all they do is judge us. Some heroes they are."_

 _"You're missing a tooth! I wonder if it will grow back...?"_

 _"You'll like Remy. He's into a lot of the same things you are, though he won't admit it. He's truly remorseful for what he did, and doesn't hate you for attacking him. He's a little banged up, but he'll survive. Ororo's confiscating is harder on him than your beating!"_

 _"I think Remy snuck into our room and stole one of your cigars. Please don't kill him, he's just upset that Ororo keeps taking his cigarettes. He shouldn't even be smoking with those cracked ribs. Now that I think about it, I think he took your beer, too..."_

 _"You better wake up soon, because Remy found your motorcycle and I think he's in love. Ororo is just about ready to tie him to the bed to get him to rest, and of course Peter found out and suggested she use a whip and ball gag as well. She zapped him when he asked to record it."_

 _"Jubilee says she's gonna stuff you full of paffs if you don't wake up soon. I believe her, too. You should have seen her invade the operating room when Hank tried to take the bullet out of my leg. I thought he was going to give her detention for a year."_

 _"Aishiteru, Logan. Dakara, shinu na yo."_

Logan opened his eyes, and for the first time in a long while, he felt utterly drained. The light hurt his eyes, every muscle ached, and his limbs felt heavy. His focus initially went to the IV bag in his periphery, before he noticed a weight against his other arm. Turning to the right, he found Elle sleeping with her head tucked into her elbow. The sight of her brought a smile to his face, until he noticed that she had laid her other hand atop his and threaded their fingers together. For some reason the blades on that hand were extended, meaning that every time she twitched in her sleep, she sliced up the inside of her fingers. How could she sleep through that?

"You were talkin' to me the whole time, weren't you?" Logan appreciated that, since it was probably her voice that brought him back. He tried to think about what happened, but all he could remember was seeing Sabretooth in the bar. There was never a time when Creed took him down this badly, so something else must have happened. But what?

Remy... Elle mentioned the Remy kid several times while he was out, did he do this? Charles had mentioned the guy had the power to manipulate energy, and Logan felt like he didn't have an ounce of energy left in his entire body. From the way Elle talked about him, Remy was not an enemy. Come to think of it, Elle said he attacked Remy. The kid must have just been trying to stay alive. Alive...

 _"Aishiteru, Logan. Dakara, shinu na yo."_

Elle was afraid Logan might die. Damn it, he went and made her upset again. Gritting his teeth in anger (and noticing one was missing, cutting in the replacement was a few days of torture he was _not_ looking forward to), he forced himself to sit up and gently shook Elle.

"Elle? Elle, wake up."

"Unh, sorry Hank I didn't mean to... Ow..." Elle stirred slowly, accidentally slicing her fingers again on Logan's claws as she sat up. Her eyes still closed in half slumber, she didn't notice he was awake until he picked up her hand and started licking the blood away.

"Mmm...n? L..Logan?! You're...!"

"Yeah, I am." Logan grabbed Elle and hoisted her onto the table, detaching several leads and the IV attached to him in the process, and causing her to accidentally kick over a cart of medical supplies. He didn't care in the least, because he was currently occupied with sticking his tongue down her throat. Elle was wearing one of his shirts, turn on number one, and a quick claw snuck up underneath reduced her bra to shreds, which was turn on number two. In addition, she wore a tiny pair of running shorts that not only showed off her long legs, but gave him easy and immediate access to what his body wanted most.

"Logan, what are you doing?" Elle panted. "We're gonna get caught!"

"Good." He positioned Elle so her hips were grinding right atop his growing arousal, then resumed his ferocious assault on Elle's lips. The top few buttons had come undone on her shirt, and as Logan rocked her back and forth, the shirt was pulled down around her shoulders revealing the top of her breasts. He growled in approval, and quickly began pawing them. Soon the whole shirt had fallen open.

Just as predicted, it didn't take long for Hank and Jean to come running into the room, alerted by the sudden flatlining of Logan's heart monitor. When they found a unmistakably alive Logan solidly rounding third base with Elle, it made both of them turn purple.

Hank was the first one out of his stupor. "Elle, Logan! What are you two doing? _Stop that right now!_ " To say that he was irritated by the current wrecked state of his medical bay was putting it lightly, and he certainly didn't appreciate the impromptu baby making that was about to occur, either. He almost wanted to cover Jean's eyes, but then again she was an adult in a committed relationship and had certainly seen two half naked people before.

"Fuck off, beast man, we're busy," Logan growled, as Elle yelped and tried to cover her modesty. Her efforts to get Logan to withdraw his hand from her shorts were in vain.

"You are not busy, and you are not to do such vulgar things in my lab with a teenage girl no matter how close you two are! I don't care if you almost died!" Hank's shouting would have woken up the entire mansion had the basement levels not been soundproofed, though it did manage to attract Charles' attention. He arrived to see Jean standing outside completely flushed, and Hank inside ready to knock Logan back into unconsciousness.

"What's going on in here?"

"Your pet sasquatch is being a major cockblocker," Logan growled, causing Elle to groan in embarrassment and withdraw into her shirt, and Hank to snarl and bare his teeth.

"Alright, that's enough," Charles ordered, putting himself between Hank and Logan. "Hank, it looks like Logan's flatline was a false alarm. He probably dislodged the electrode. Why don't you step outside and calm yourself down for a few moments while I handle this?"

Deferring to his elder's advice, Hank leered at Logan before leaving the room. Charles then turned his attention to Logan. "Well, look who decided to wake up."

"Listen, bub-"

"Get your hand out of her knickers," Charles snapped, surprising both of them with his harsh tone. Logan immediately obeyed and sat up, more out of shock that Charles had dared to yell at him. "Now, I understand that you don't often have brushes with death like this, so I'm willing to tolerate a certain amount of rash behavior. But what I'm not willing to tolerate is hostility toward other members of the team. If the two of you want to celebrate your recovery, you may do so, just don't destroy other people's property to do it."

"...Hey, not my fault he walked in on us," Logan grumbled, as he rubbed Elle's back to calm her nerves. She was still rather embarrassed at being caught getting intimate with him.

"Do you remember what happened at all?" Charles asked, deciding to change subjects knowing that Logan had somewhat learned his lesson. Even if he hadn't, Charles knew that the scolding Elle was going to give Logan for being caught was punishment enough.

"All I know is that we ended up in a bar, Elle joined a poker game with a kid she thought was worth exposing her mutation to, and then Sabretooth showed up. Next thing you know, I wake up here."

"I see." Charles thought for a second, before extending his hand. "Let me into your mind, Logan. I might be able to see what happened while you were out."

Logan was hesitant, but Elle put her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, I'm right here." She wasn't afraid, so he shouldn't be either. He nodded, and Charles made a link.

"Hmm. It looks like you fought Sabretooth and managed to detach his forearm, then Remy encouraged you to escape. You slashed at his arm because you didn't want to go, so he used a piece of Elle's equipment to lure you back to his hideout. Once there, you tackled him and nearly impaled him, so he had no choice but to use his abilities and knock you out."

Logan processed the account. It did make a lot of things click. "That kid is pretty powerful if he was able to knock me out for as long as he did. Is that why Stryker's after him?"

"Possibly," Charles answered. "Though when I spoke to Remy, he told me he's been hiding in Louisiana for most of his life."

"Too predictable."

"Yes, Logan. But he said he only encountered Sabretooth one or two times over the years, so it seems like they weren't actively chasing him," Charles said. "Only now did they go after him. Any ideas?"

"Do they know that he's able to knock Logan out?" Elle asked. "Maybe it's not so much of a coincidence that Sabretooth went after Remy so soon after attacking me..."

Charles was intrigued. "How do you figure?"

"Well, Creed knows that Logan is going to gut him after what he did to me," she explained. "So maybe they're trying to figure out a way to take Logan down to save themselves, and we just found one entirely by coincidence."

"They must have been planning on continuing where they left off with LeBeau," Logan suggested. It made sense. They might have theorized the effect his energy manipulation would have on an adamantium skeleton, but judging by the notes left in the base they never got around to testing it before he escaped.

A familiar voice arose in the back of Logan's mind, one he tried to avoid giving in to. _They tricked you... Why do you think Xavier was in such a rush to get to LeBeau before Stryker? He knew damn well what that kid was capable of. You're the most powerful killing machine in the world, and you just delivered one of the only others who can possibly stop you into the hands of the world's premier telepath. The same telepath who nearly let the world come to ruin._

Elle noticed Logan's fists tensing, so she jumped off the table and stood in front of him. "Logan, look at me." She noticed his eyes flickering, and took his hands. "I know what you're thinking, and that's just the other guy talking, okay? Remy's on our side; if we run, he goes with us. Besides, do you really think you were being used? Honestly?"

Logan didn't want to think that way, but he'd been through to much to write it off.

"She's right, _mon ami_." Charles and Elle turned to see Remy leaning in the doorway. Logan had heard the kid sneaking into the room, funny that he chose now to speak up. "Remy knows when he's bein' used, so do you really think dis Cajun be here if that be the case?"

Elle frowned as Remy mussed her hair. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Never heard you come back up, so figured you needed checked up on. Dats when Remy ran into a very flustered Jean in the hallway. Methinks she don't care Remy injured, 'cause she 'helped' me into the elevator a little too hard. What happened down here?"

"Nothing to be concerned with," Charles answered a little too quickly, hoping Remy didn't notice the shredded bra laying on the floor. "It seems as though everyone is in good health for the moment, so I believe it is safe to retire. Logan, since you are the least injured out of the three of you, I expect you to clean up the lab before you return to your room. Tomorrow, I want each of you to report to Hank or Jean for a medical exam. Remy, in your case, I highly recommend you choose Hank."

" _D'accord_." Remy certainly didn't want that laser hole in his stomach.

"Logan?"

"Fine," he responded, watching Charles leave the room before getting off the table and turning to Remy. He stared the young Cajun up and down, lamenting how Elle had managed to make yet another taller friend, when he caught a certain scent.

Remy wiped off his hand and offered it forward. " _Enchanté_ , Logan. We met before, but first time was in Stryker's hellhole and second time you were _le glouton_ , so-"

Logan interrupted Remy by grabbing his belt and shoving his hand into his pants, freaking Remy out and causing Elle to burst into laughter.

" _Qu'est-ce que tu fais?! Casse-toi!_ "

Logan withdrew his hand a second later, bringing with him a half smoked cigar. "...I hear you stole my beer, too. And that you were eyeing my motorcycle." Remy turned white, and held his breath until Logan gave him back the cigar. "You'll have to get your own bike, but consider the rest an apology."

"Uh, _merci beaucoup_?" Remy looked to Elle, then glanced at Logan and put the cigar back in his pocket. "So does this mean we goin' steady? Remy don' let no one stick a hand down his pants until at least the second date."

"You damned Cajun!" Gone with a laugh before Logan could even swat at him, Logan instead turned his energy into picking up the lab as quickly as possible. Elle assured him that there would be plenty of opportunities to prank their new friend.

"But first and foremost, we need to finish up here so we can get back to what we were doing earlier." Elle cooed, massaging Logan's waist, "Right, _darlin_?"

To this day, no one has broken Logan's record for cleaning up the lab.

* * *

A/N: Remy basically said "What are you doing?! Bugger off!" or the like. Pretty much whatever a French speaker would be expected to say if a short hairy man randomly stuck a hand down their pants.

This also marks the rough end of the introductory part of the story. Everyone has been fetched, backstories have been established as much as they need to be (or can be borrowed from the films), and we're ready to start rolling along into the meat of the conflict. I still have to figure out how I'm going to warp the Rogue deal to fit the new movie timeline. I don't plan to hook her up with Remy, she can have her Iceman. But I do intend to go get her. I need that Canada encounter for something. ;)


	22. Southern Belle

A/N: This chapter has a little comedy in it, and ends rather abruptly. But there is a reason for that, and you'll know why when you get there. ;)

* * *

I know Logan and I told the Professor we probably weren't going to stay at his school for very long, but that was about seven years ago. Looks like we've taken root.

Logan actually ended up liking it here, believe it or not. After wearing everyone to the bone during physical education, he was promptly switched out and put in charge of teaching history, something I still occasionally snicker at. There's no one better for the job than someone born in the 1800s though, and the Professor knows that. Scott will just have to be the target of every tired child's death threats for the time being. The kids love it when he doesn't sugar coat things like the atrocities of the World Wars, but heaven help them if they're disruptive in class or the coffee machine breaks.

I didn't think the Canadian in Logan would settle for anything less than a log cabin in the middle of the snow covered woods, but he spends about as much time fooling around in the garage as he does hanging out at the boathouse with Remy. Logan can go for a week or two out on the lake if you let him, but thankfully the attraction of constantly tearing down and rebuilding that Harley inside a heated garage (with only the occasional visit from a certain paff-creating mallrat to distract him) is enough to keep him at home.

Speaking of Remy, the little trickster called Gambit quickly evolved from our third wheel into a close friend to both of us. As the school expanded and took on more students, our weirdo floor became less isolated when some of the graduates took the other rooms. Our room was remodeled into a single bedroom suite since Logan's nightmares were under control, so Remy moved from across the hall to Logan's old bedroom. It was convenient, since the two of them often stayed up late screaming at various sporting games in our shared living room. Jubilee got his old room, which she still complains smells of cigarettes. Though how she can tell the difference from her fireworks, I'll never know.

That's not to say Logan spends more time with Remy than with me. I'm still at the top of his list, and he's not shy about letting everyone else know. I can't keep track of the number of times Logan has done something he shouldn't have in public. You would think the lecture I gave him after that time Hank caught us in the lab would have deterred him, but no. In fact, it might have encouraged him, now that I think about it. We've had sex in just about every part of the mansion thanks to his insatiable appetite. It's worse when Scott finds out, because the two of them won't quit squabbling with each other over the proper definition of 'indecent exposure'. Logan insists it doesn't count unless you actually see something. Oy.

The Professor had asked me if I wanted to teach, but to be honest I didn't feel right teaching when I had never been to school myself. So I settled into a role as the librarian, relieving Kurt to focus full time on teaching. I figured since I read so much, I could be of some use. I also had a role on the X-Men team, as a pilot and backup target extractor. Our 'fearless leader' didn't quite like that I relied on more lethal weapons like a katana and pistol, or that my healing factor wasn't as strong as Logan's, so he didn't use me a lot. He tended to avoid Remy as well, probably out of animosity, so we stayed behind a lot and commiserated.

I was a lot better at empathizing with the runaways, though, so I usually ended up going on trips to pick up new students. That was why Logan and I were currently in Canada, waiting for a girl the Professor said would really need our help. She apparently fled her home because she could no longer touch anyone without causing them pain. Poor thing. We had reason to believe she was heading this way, so I was waiting in a bar while Logan killed time beating the pulp out of drunken locals in a cage match. He was apparently famous around here for being unbeatable. I wonder why.

After a few hours of watching Logan bend everyone over backwards, I noticed a girl in a green cloak slink wearily into the bar. So I bought a cocoa and sat beside her. "...Here."

She was a little weary of me at first, but took the cocoa and eked out a thank you. She sat in silence for the next hour, watching Logan take out one fool after another without a scratch. I noticed a flash of recognition in her eyes, and as the bar started to empty out, I tried talking to her again.

"Hell of a fighter, huh?"

"...Yep."

"I've tried talking him out of it, but you know how men are. They don't like it when their women tell them what to do. Especially someone as thick headed as him. He thinks he can keep going for days."

There was a long pause, before she whispered, "can he?"

"They'll need more than fists to take him out," I answered just loud enough for her to hear. "Is this the first you've seen another one?"

She nodded, gripping her cloak from anxiety.

"I am too, there's nothing to be afraid of. What's your name?"

"...Rogue."

I see, she doesn't feel comfortable using her real name. No problem. "I'm Elle, and he's Logan. We can take you in if you'd like, Rogue. We live at a school for people like us. You wouldn't have to hide anymore, and some of the others might be able to teach you how to expand and control your gifts. What do you say?"

Rogue thought it over, before deciding that she would come with us. By this time Logan was done with his manhandling, and had joined us at the bar. I introduced him to Rogue, then got out my phone and called Remy to let him know we were on our way to meet him at the rendezvous point. Logan had decided to move in Canada by car, being as inconspicuous as possible. Remy would then pick us up with the jet, and we'd fly back to New York.

We piled into the little truck Logan had procured, with me sitting in the middle. It was embarrassing enough to have three people stuffed into one truck cab, but Logan wouldn't quit making lewd comments about how the gear shifter happened to be between my legs.

Rogue seemed amused by the comments, even cracking a smile. "...Are you two married?"

"No."

"Should be." My rebuttal to Logan actually made Rogue start laughing.

"You're twenty three, too young for marriage."

"But sixteen wasn't too young to sleep with me?" I winked at Rogue, letting her know Logan and I were just teasing each other. "Maybe I should just marry your boyfriend Remy..."

"You try and I'll tie you to my bed."

"Oh please, you're a sub at heart, Mr. Wolverine."

"Excuse me, there are children present," Rogue interrupted, once she recovered her breath from giggling. "So how much further do we have to drive?"

"We're meeting the jet up in an open field," I explained. "When we get back to the school, you'll go to meet Professor Charles Xavier, the headmaster. He'll talk to you for a little bit about the school and how they can help you with your powers, then I'm sure someone will show you to a room. You must be exhausted from coming all this way."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Rogue nodded, then stared out the windshield for a little bit. They had driven for another ten minutes, and were almost to the rendezvous point. Elle had closed her eyes in thought, and Rogue didn't want to disturb her. After getting bored with watching the road, she looked around the truck and turned to Logan.

"You know, you should wear your seat belt."


	23. The Broken Tree

A/N: I just wanted to point out that this story still takes place on the "good timeline" after the end of Days of Future Past, meaning that however I play this out, you know Jean and Scott will survive. I'm kinda figuring that since Rogue still has her white hair at the end, certain events will happen on both timelines no matter if Trask lives or dies.

* * *

Logan groaned. They picked up another smartass. "Look kid, I don't need advice on auto-"

A tree suddenly slammed against the hood of the truck, smashing the bumper into the ground and sending Logan flying through the windshield into the snow a distance away. Rogue was the first one to understand what had happened, though she was a little disoriented. She realized her leg was caught between the compressed dashboard and the seat and tried to free it, before noticing that Elle had been knocked unconscious and that Logan was thrown through the windshield.

Looking up, Rogue saw Logan stumbling to his feet about fifteen yards away from the truck. When he got closer, she was rather shocked by what she was watching. He had an enormous patch of skin and muscle missing from his forehead, with some kind of metal bone beneath, that was knitting itself back together. No wonder Elle said the bar goons would need more than fists to take him down.

"Kid, I said are you all right?"

"Uh, no, I'm stuck and Elle's out!"

"Ah, fuck." Logan didn't seem too disturbed by the news, and just kept stumbling towards the truck. It wasn't until he noticed the broken tree root that Rogue saw him stop and sniff the air, then all of a sudden metal claws came bursting out of his fists. Rogue recoiled in fright as a giant man in animal furs leapt out from nowhere and attacked Logan, knocking him back into a snow bank.

Logan hissed as the man jumped out at him and threw him off balance. When he looked up he was surprised to see it was Sabretooth, though something was definitely wrong. Sabretooth wasn't a quiet fighter, and the trick with the tree was a little too smart for him. Plus, the scent...

Sabretooth or not, he used Logan's confusion to get the drop on him, whacking him with a tree limb and sending him crashing onto the truck hood. The impact shoved his vertebrae into his brain stem for the second time in less than five minutes, and was enough to knock him unconscious.

Setting his sights on the two juicy worms in the truck, Sabretooth advanced toward Rogue and Elle. He wasn't more than a step or two away when he got an explosion in his ears.

"No dessert until you finish the main course, _connard_!"

Sabretooth hissed as Remy ran up and threw two more charged cards his way, and failed to dodge a well placed smack in the head from his bo staff. The hit knocked him away from the truck, but rather than continue the fight, he chose to retreat into the woods. Remy found it odd, but chose not to pursue as he could hear the teen whimpering in pain inside the truck.

" _T'inquiétes pas, ma chère_ , Remy gonna get you out. Don't be scared." He climbed over the felled tree to reach the passenger door, smacking Logan's leg and calling him a few nasty things in French when he didn't get up. It took a little bit of his powers to get the door off, but he managed to blow it open without lighting up the whole truck.

" _Voilà_ , open. You okay, _chère_?"

Rogue was intimidated at first by Remy's red on black eyes, but his Cajun accent was soothing and reminded her of home. "My leg's stuck and numb. Plus Elle's unconscious."

"Elle got a bit of a healin' factor like Logan, so let's get you out first. Don't want you losin' that leg, do we?" Remy used a knife to cut Rogue's seatbelt, then gently pulled the brunette free. He had to do a little more work with Elle, because the dashboard console was forced tightly against her legs.

Once Rogue and Elle were clear of the wreckage, and Logan was dragged off the hood, Remy helped everyone onto the Blackbird jet and took off for New York.

"How'd you know we were in trouble?" Rogue asked, as Remy checked over Elle on a stretcher in the back. The jet was on auto pilot, and Logan was dumped in a chair as 'punishment' for being knocked unconscious.

"Elle and Logan both have communicators with them, _ma chère_ ," he explained. "Each one got a little tracker in it. Remy was keeping an eye on them in case anything happened. They were together, and then Logan's suddenly went flying before goin' offline. Remy just had to see what the hell happened."

"Is Elle going to be alright?

" _Oui_ , she should be fine," Remy assured Rogue. "I've seen her bounce back from worse. Actually, it looks like she's coming around now..."

* * *

I had a bit of a headache when I woke, but at least it was Remy I was looking at and not the flaming remains of a dashboard or some strange hospital. "Don't tell me, Logan wrecked."

" _Mais oui_ , but it was not his fault. You had help." Remy pointed over to a chair, where Logan was passed out like a drunken bum. "It looked just like Creed, but he ran off just as Remy got there. Didn't even take the time to bitch about my devil eyes."

"You mean I was practically gift wrapped, with Logan TKO'd on the sidelines, and Sabretooth just _ran away_?" I shook my head. "I've got the concussion, Rem, not you."

"Ask _la petite_ , she can tell you."

"I believe you, I just don't want to." We didn't need this right now. It had been several years since we'd had any new information about Stryker's activities, but he's always a threat in the back of our minds. We hadn't seen hide nor hair of Creed since Stryker manipulated the military and made colonel a few years ago. This combined with the push for the Mutant Registration Act had all of us on edge. Something is going to happen eventually, I know it.

"...Who's flying the fucking plane?!"

Remy looked up at the sudden outburst. "Logan's awake. It's called 'autopilot', _mon frère_."

* * *

"So you were intercepted by Sabretooth, but this time he wasn't after Elle." We reported straight to the Professor when we got back, while Jean checked Rogue in the med lab. "It does seem rather strange that he would sabotage you like this."

"Even stranger was how he ran. Remy ain't no match for Sabretooth on his own, and he know that," Remy admitted. "Logan was out like a light, and the girls were in no position to help. All he had to do was wear me down and he'd have what he wanted wit' no trouble."

Logan slammed his fist against the wall. "That wasn't Creed."

The Professor scratched his chin. "Enlighten us, Logan."

"You're not gonna like my answer."

"You think it was Mystique," I mumbled under my breath. Logan was right, the Professor didn't like that very much.

"What reason would Mystique have to disguise herself as Sabretooth and sabotage your mission?" Charles asked. "I haven't seen her in years, but as far as I know she still has a relationship with Erik. She hates Stryker just as much as you do, Logan."

Logan narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that? And who's Erik?"

The Professor sighed, though for a second I thought I saw him hesitate. "I have known Raven for a very long time. Believe me, when it comes to experimentation on mutants, she is _very_ strongly against it. As for Erik, he is an old acquaintance of mine who believes that a war is brewing between mutants and the rest of humanity."

"And you don't think Mystique is helping him?!" Logan scoffed, and headed for the door. "You know, I think I remember who Erik is. The two of you aren't just acquaintances, are you? I'm getting sick of this bullshit."

Logan stormed out of the office, and Remy rose to follow. "Let him go," Charles said. "He's just frustrated, and I don't blame him. The situation does not make much sense."

"You said this Erik doesn't believe in peace between us and humans?" Remy asked.

"Yes. Erik, or Magneto as he is called, has always believed that humanity will one day enslave us. He was at Jean's Congressional address, and views the Mutant Registration Act as the first step towards all out war." The Professor sighed and shook his head. "Erik has lived through many personal tragedies. Imprisonment in a Holocaust camp, murder of his mother in front of him, losing his family... He tends to see the bad in humanity above all."

"Logan knows Mystique from a quick fling in the early 1970s," I spoke up. "I don't know if she knows Victor Creed, but she would have to have been pretty close to him to be able to mimic his body so well."

"She got everything right but the scent," Remy mumbled. "Even the eyes right. Remy hate to think how she know him so well."

"Never mind the how, we need the figure out the why," Charles admitted. "So you believe the real target of this attack was Logan. Was she doing this on her own, or working in tandem with Magneto?"

"She has to be working with Magneto," Remy answered. "Women hold grudges, but ain't no woman holdin' a grudge for thirty years. No offense."

"None taken, douchebag." I tried to think about why someone would want to go after Logan. "Is Magneto telepathic like you? Does he want Logan so he can control him and have the best fighter on his side?"

"Magneto is not telepathic, but rather has the power to control metal and magnetic fields," Charles explained. "He could theoretically control Logan in such a manner like a puppet because of his adamantium skeleton, but taking away his free will would be very cumbersome and greatly lower Logan's skill as a fighter."

"But you gotta admit, a man who controls metal has great interest in a warrior with a metal skeleton," Remy mused.

"Logan was correct when he said that he and Erik met before," Charles said, "but at that time, Logan did not yet have the metal covering his bones. Erik knew how powerful _and_ how temperamental of a fighter he was even at that point. They didn't get along back then and I doubt they would get along now. I'm still not entirely sure it's him Erik wants."

"Well something is fishy about this whole thing," I stated. We'll have to look into things and see what Mystique and her pals have been up to. "I'll go see if I can calm Logan down. Remy, why don't you brainstorm? Maybe we're just missing a clue."

" _Bonne idée_. Who knows, maybe we'll find something weird."

* * *

Down in the medical lab, Jean was just finishing checking the bruising along Rogue's leg. "Well, it doesn't look too serious. You'll be purple for a while, but I doubt you'll have any long term neurological nerve damage. The numbness was probably just from having it pinned for too long."

"That's good to know." Rogue pulled her pant leg down, eager to lessen exposure to her skin as much as possible.

"So tell me about yourself," Jean asked, noticing how skittish Rogue was. "We knew a little about you before sending Elle and Logan to help you, but not very much."

"Oh, uh," Rogue fidgeted, "how did you know about me?"

"The Professor has a tool that helps him locate mutants in need," Jean explained, sitting down across from her. "But that's not the answer you're looking for, is it?"

"...Not really."

"Want to talk about it?"

Rogue sighed. "...My 'powers' emerged when I was at home with my boyfriend. I put him in a coma just because I kissed him. So I freaked out and ran away from home. I decided that I'd hitchhike all the way up to Alaska, or at least into Canada. Everything was fine until I made it to New York."

"What happened there?"

"I got in a fight with this gang," Rogue answered. "They were going to force themselves on me, I knew it. I fought back, then halfway through the fight this woman showed up. She thought we were all delinquents, even me. She was very obviously a mutant, she could fly and everything. She beat up all of them, and then started on me. I tried telling her I wasn't part of the gang but she didn't listen. So I did the only thing I could think of, I touched her."

Jean listened intently. "When you touch someone, it takes their energy away, correct?"

"Yeah, but she was really strong. She kept fighting, trying to hurt me. So I just held on to her. I felt so bad, but at the same time I didn't want to be hurt anymore. I was actually a little angry, and held on longer than I should have. I didn't kill her, I just kept going until she passed out. Then I ran away as fast as I could."

"I see." Jean made a few notes on the medical chart, then turned back to Rogue. "That woman, did you know she was somewhat famous among the mutant community?"

"I did after I fought her. Whenever I touch someone, I absorb their memories. If they're a mutant, I get their powers too for a little bit. Only..."

"What?"

"Hers never went away," Rogue explained, demonstrating as she hovered a little bit above the table. "I can't explain it. I can kinda fly now, and some things don't hurt as much as they used to. No matter if I absorb another person, I still keep this."

"Okay, sit back down." Jean made a note to study this for later. "The Professor may be able to help you figure this mystery out, and how to manage your abilities a little better. But don't worry, no one will judge you here for your actions. We've all had to make rash decisions when backed into a corner."

"Yeah, but I attacked another mutant and stole their powers!"

"And people used to be afraid of me because I'm a hellbent psycho." Jean smiled and assured her, "It's nothing to worry about. Come on, let's get you upstairs. I'm sure you'd like to have a meal before you retire."

"...Alright." Rogue still wasn't sure she'd fit in. After all, not everyone was going to be as understanding as Jean. It's not like they could kill someone just by brushing against them.

* * *

A/N: The "famous mutant" Rogue scrapped with is an allusion to Ms. Marvel, and the fight which gave Rogue her powers in the comics. Since I'm not going to be giving Rogue her Cajun boyfriend or her close relationship with Logan in this story, I decided to be nice to her and give her back the powers the movie never blessed her with.


	24. Bumpy Road

A/N: There are a few little easter eggs in this chapter, can you find them? One is just a slight nod to the comics, but the others are actually slight foreshadowing to the end of the story. No idea how many chapters from now that will be, because after this little X1 event there is one more major obstacle that the characters have to face before the end. But I thought it would be neat to mention. I welcome any guesses!

* * *

On my way to find Logan, I passed Rogue in the hall. She seemed a little down but at least she wasn't seriously injured from the crash. I'm actually amazed she wasn't knocked unconscious like I was, she must be one tough little girl. She was on her way to the dining room with Jean, so I told her I'd drop by her room and check in on her later.

Logan wasn't in our room or the garage, and I know he wouldn't be stupid enough to go out to the boathouse if we thought he was being targeted. Scott was using the Danger Room at the moment so that was out, the weight room was empty, and Colossus and Kitty were 'studying each other' in the history classroom when I checked there, so that's an image I need removed from my brain immediately. So where the hell did he go?

Figuring some fresh oxygen would help me think, I went back to the third floor and paced around in the greenhouse. To my surprise, I found Logan there fiddling with one of Ororo's flowers. "You know, she'll be mad if she catches you."

"...Can't help it, always had a soft spot for lilies."

I never figured him for a guy who liked flowers. "You wanna tell me why you got so upset and stomped out of the Professor's office?"

Logan gave me the side eye, before running a hand through his hair. "You mean Charles didn't spoil it for you already?"

"You already know how hard it is to get anything straight out of him," I answered. "So what exactly did Mystique do that has you this upset? I don't care how often you slept with her, I wasn't even born yet."

Logan put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me down onto a bench. "Calm down, I only slept with her once. _Once_ being the key word. Besides, it's not the sex that has me on edge. Raven's a girl who will do whatever she has to, to get what she wants. Back then, she was on the warpath to keep mutants from being second class citizens. It makes perfect sense for her to shack up with this Magneto asshole."

"Then you've got to realize she wouldn't want anything to do with Stryker or Sabretooth," I reminded him. "They're the exact opposite."

"Listen, darlin," Logan then grabbed my hands, almost a little too tightly. "There's something I just don't like about all of this. The last time I saw Raven was in the fall of '72. I remember because I had just got out of Vietnam. After that, when the new year turned, I don't remember nothin' until I picked you out of the snow."

I looked Logan dead in the eyes. Nothing? "What do you mean? Your past is blurred?"

"No, I mean there's nothing there," he repeated, in a very somber tone. "It's not like the muddled memories that Jean restored from that damned mind control helmet. I'm missing ten years, probably the time Stryker had me in captivity. And it all started after I met her."

"...Logan, you're not suggesting that Mystique handed you over to Stryker, are you?" I've never known Logan to be paranoid like this. Why would she even do such a thing? Is it because he spurned her advances? "Look, I'm not about to let some jealous blue tart put us all on edge because she's still lusting after you. Regardless if she wanted back in your pants or if she wanted to teach you a lesson for letting her go, handing you to Stryker is not the way to get revenge. Hell, she'd probably just go sleep with Creed for that."

Logan's face turned white as soon as that last sentence came out of my mouth, telling me I hit the nail on the head. "Wait, you mean she actually _did_ that?"

"Why do you think I only slept with her once?" I could tell Logan was just itching to impale something. "I liked her because she was wild and willing to stand up for herself. I was sorta into the feminists back in the day. We went out and had a good time, and one thing led to another. Then the next day she's telling me about all her plans for mutant rights and this and that, I say I want nothing to do with it, then she mocks me saying that Victor wouldn't be afraid of bearing his claws for the good of mutantkind."

"Woah."

"Yeah. So whatever she's doing to stir me up, she's succeeded," he growled. "She very well could have been pissed enough to hand me over to her old boyfriend to give to his boss. Who knows what her fucked up mind wants with me now."

"We won't let her get to you," I assured him, cupping his hands with my own.

Logan sighed, and shook his head. "It's not me I'm worried about, I'll survive whatever torture they have planned. But what would happen to you if I'm not here to protect you?"

"Logan. You're the best fighter here, and you yourself trained me how to fight back. I've also got Remy, the best thief and marksman on this entire team short of yourself, and he's not about to let anyone put a scratch on me, including you. Even in the unlikely situation that you would get caught, I'll survive to get you out. I'll rescue you..."

"IT'S NOT YOUR PLACE TO RESCUE ME!"

I recoiled in shock as Logan whipped around and violently slashed at the plants behind us, beheading some unfortunate zinnias and dahlias. What did he mean, it wasn't my place to help him? And why did he have to be so childish all of a sudden? A little too hurt by his words to realize it was the Wolverine in him talking and not Logan, I stood up and ran from the greenhouse. If he wants to play lone wolf, fine. This cub is gonna go play with the litter.

* * *

It didn't take me long to find Rogue. She had been introduced to the clique of guys led by Bobby and John in the dining hall, but John had promptly made an ass of himself and singed her clothing. She was currently hiding in the laundry room with Jubilee, who was digging through the spare sweats for a suitable replacement outfit. "Let me guess, Pyro?"

"Yeah, little rat bastard thought fire was the best way to impress a girl." Jubilee had an intense dislike for the kid, partially because he still hit on her. Even though she had graduated and was now a part time teacher, she still looked like a sixteen year old.

"I see. How about a mall run? We can get some new clothes, eat away from the jerks, and spend Logan's money to teach him a lesson."

Rogue and Jubilee looked at each other, before Jubilee spoke up. "You know I never turn down a mall run, but something we should know about? You two never fight."

"Is he upset about the accident?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but he apparently wants to be alone. And since he's the one confined to the mansion and not me, I say we go let off a little steam. Come on."

* * *

A/N: I'd also like to mention that updates may be a little more infrequent now that fall classes will be starting back up. I'm trying to get into another degree program because the BA that I have isn't getting me any jobs. Seriously I can't even get retail jobs unless I lie that I never went to college. Thanks, tumbling economy and 30k in student loans that did nothing for me.


	25. Drained

A/N: Okay, figured out how to work in the "Rogue's powers exposition scene" from X1 despite having taken Wolvie's nightmares away in an earlier chapter. Unfortunately, this means someone else has to be the punching bag for the chapter... :(

* * *

Remy left the Professor's office armed with a few ideas as to why Mystique might be interested in Logan, though none for Magneto. With his powers, he could put adamantium onto any mutant of his choosing, so it wouldn't make sense to go after one who wants nothing to do with him. Regardless, he thought he'd share what he had with Elle and Logan.

Nobody was in their room or the usual hiding spaces, but Remy noticed that the greenhouse door was open. Inside he found Logan hunched over on the ground, staring at the lopped off blossoms of a few of Ororo's flowers.

" _Mon Dieu_ , what happened here? Stormy is gonna kill you when she sees dis mess!"

"...I yelled at her."

" _Pardon_?"

Logan fiddled with a dark red dahlia blossom, staring into its nearly black center. "She was just trying to help and I yelled at her. Snapped at her. Told her to be a good little girl and get back to the kitchen. Patronized her. I-"

" _Arrêtes_ , Logan, Remy gets the picture." Elle and Logan must have had a fight. Logan and Ororo yelled at each other all the time, and there's no way he would break down like this for Jubilee or Jean. "How bad of a situation are we talking?"

"She got up and ran out of the room. I could smell shock and confusion on her, but most of all, anger. She was upset that I told her it wasn't her place to save me if I was in danger."

Remy nodded, then after a second of contemplation, hauled Logan to his feet and smacked him clean across the face. Such an action caught Logan by surprise, so he didn't even try to block it. "Such a fool you are, _mon frère_! That was worth the pain in Remy's hand from your thick skull, maybe it smack some sense into you. Why would you say such a thing?"

"...I don't know."

Remy scowled. "You better have more to say than that, _mon ami_."

In return, Logan had to resist the urge to chop up more flowers. "Argh, it's him, alright? The other part of me is freaking out, because I'm resisting every signal my body is giving me saying that it's time to take Elle and get out of dodge. Last time I saw that snake woman, I spent the next ten years locked up in a cage with my humanity reduced to nothing. You think I want to go through that again?"

Remy stilled as Logan grabbed onto his collar. " _Non_ , of course not, Logan! But we're not going to let anything happen to you or Elle. Everyone in this mansion, me, Storm, Jubilee, Hank, Peter, Scott, Jean, we're all in this together. If they come for you, they're going through me. And since they probably still are looking for me, I count on you to help fight them off. You're not gonna skip out on me, are you?"

"Psh, Elle would kill me if I left you behind."

"Then, _voilà_ , problem solved," Remy said with a grin, detaching himself from Logan's grip. "Now, was your other self also the one responsible for patronizing Elle? How do you think she felt to be told by the love of her life that she wasn't allowed to take care of you, especially after all those years you looked after her?"

"I know, Gumbo, why do you think I've been in here brooding? I realized my mistake as soon as it happened."

"Then stop moping like a drowned puppy, and go win her back! Use those feral instincts of yours in a different way for once," Remy suggested. "Instead of bein' all 'alpha male, protect the pack' and whatnot, how about showing her off? Pamper her, parade her around so she knows you appreciate your relationship. That'll have the benefit of pissing Scott off, you know One Eye hates seeing you two together in front of _les petites_."

Logan couldn't help but raise his brow. "That sounds like something you would do."

" _Ah, oui_. You would probably just go bang in his car or something. Of course, I can think of one other thing that would make Elle forgive you..." Remy held up his hand, and tapped on his left ring finger.

That made Logan scowl. "No, Gumbo, not like this. It wouldn't feel genuine. Besides, I don't want all our milestones to come after negative points in our lives. We met after we were both tortured. She was mauled by Creed, we became lovers. I impaled her through the hip after a nightmare, we made love for the first time. I'm not adding to that list. Come on, let's just go find her and I'll admit I was a rotten bastard."

Logan and Remy were descending the stairs from the second floor of the mansion, when they heard a commotion by the front door. First thing they could make out was Ororo, bursting through the door and flying straight to the elevator with someone in her arms. Next, a frazzled yet somber Jubilee led in a very shell shocked Rogue, whose shirt was bloodied and torn open.

The two men immediately ran to the ground floor, Remy going to Rogue and removing his jacket to cover her visible stomach. The telltale signs of a freshly healed wound didn't escape Logan's eagle eye, however, nor did the scent of fear and panic covering the girls. "What the hell happened? And who did Storm take to the infirmary?"

The girls' eyes widened at Logan's demands, and Rogue couldn't help tearing up. "It was an accident," she mumbled, before breaking away from Remy and running to her room. Unsure if she was okay, he followed leaving Logan to deal with Jubilee.

"Jubilee, where did you go? Were you attacked?" Logan was ten seconds away from unsheathing his claws and tracking the bastards who did this down himself, when Jubilee put a hand on his shoulder. After a moment of silence, it clicked why Rogue was upset when she looked at him. That was Elle in Ororo's arms. He spun around and practically dove into the elevator, then all but tore the door off the med lab when he arrived.

There was Elle laying on a table unconscious, with Jean hovering over her. Hank and Ororo were just chatting like nothing had happened, setting Logan's blood aboil as he burst into the exam room. Hank looked over and recognized the amber tint in Logan's eyes as he entered, and just barely managed to hold Logan back before he uprooted the entire lab.

"Let me go you damned furball! I need to see her! LET GO!"

Even with his immense beastly strength, Hank struggled to keep Logan from knocking everything over. "Logan, calm down! You're making things worse, please! As Ororo explained it to us, things should be under control. We're just being cautious. Relax!"

"Ragh!" Logan kept struggling, forcing even Jean to use her powers to restrain him.

"Logan, listen to me," Ororo pleaded, "It's not as bad as you think. Elle is only unconscious because Rogue accidentally drained her healing ability. We have to keep her here to make sure her strength comes back, but she is not critically injured. I am willing to tell you what I observed at the mall but I can not talk to you if you are going to let your feral side take control. If you are going to act like that, we can just have Remy sit with her instead."

"Think of Elle," Jean urged, finally getting through to Logan. He stopped struggling and stayed back, allowing Jean and Hank to finish checking Elle over.

"There was an anti-mutant protest at the mall," Ororo spoke up while they were finishing. "I was just leaving the bookstore, when I heard screaming coming from a crowd in the parking lot. Some of the protesters were picking on a mutant boy, and apparently Jubilee had taken offense to that. When Elle and Rogue tried to break them up, the protester brandished a pocket knife and caught Rogue in the stomach. When Elle tried to help her, Rogue panicked and held Elle's hand against the wound a little too long. I got there just as Elle collapsed, so I brought everyone back here as quick as possible."

After several deep breaths, Logan had processed enough for conversation. "...The kid looked at me like she expected I'd blow up on her," he mumbled, glancing over at Elle on the hospital bed. "What'd she do to her?"

"Rogue's powers are extremely unique," Jean explained. "Whenever she touches someone, she absorbs their life energy, memories, and if they're a mutant, their abilities. In this case, when Rogue touched Elle, the stab wound she received healed at the cost of draining Elle to unconsciousness."

"The effect is only temporary, Logan," Hank added. "Rogue's powers wear off once she breaks contact with the target, and the powers she gains in return eventually disappear. The only instance where it was permanent came from a brawl shortly after her powers manifested, when she was forced to drain someone nearly to death in self defense. She didn't hold onto Elle for anywhere near that amount of time, so she should wake as soon as her healing kicks back in."

Jean studied the health monitors, before making a suggestion. "Hank, why don't we let Logan take Elle back upstairs for the night? Everything seems to be fine, and given what she's recovered from before, there shouldn't be any problems. We can use the portable ECG, and he can call if there's any trouble."

"That might be a good idea," Hank answered. "Patients tend to recover better in their own beds, after all. As long as there's no horseplay..."

Logan heard Hank's insinuation, but rather than shoving an adamantium reinforced fist in his gut like he wanted, he ignored him and helped Jean and Ororo finish with Elle. Hank summarily left to check up on Jubilee and Rogue, dropping the subject. As soon as Jean finished calibrating the portable monitor, Logan was on his way upstairs with Elle. It had already been a long day, and the sooner he could put an end to it, the better.

* * *

A/N: I'm a horrible parent to keep beating up my OC like this. If it's any consolation, I actually have Elle here and I take very good care of her. I have an old American Girl of Today #10 doll that Elle is based on. Nearly black hair, green eyes, and everything. Doll Elle says hi. :3


	26. Enter Magneto

A/N: Anyone else miss the 90's cartoon? ;) Okay so there actually isn't much Magneto in this chapter, but I just couldn't resist using the title since this is the first chapter where he's actually active in the plot.

* * *

I'll admit, I felt like I didn't have any bones left in my body when I woke up. Even opening my eyes was a chore, but I got it done and saw my old stuffed wolverine staring back at me. 'Confused' would be sugarcoating my reaction to that one. I closed my eyes and let out what I could muster for a groan, when I felt someone cuddling me close to them. Opening this time I saw the real thing, pushing the stuffie out of the way and kissing my nose.

"You feel like a truck ran you over, huh?"

What do you think? "Uh."

Logan smiled, interpreting my grunt. "Remy talked to Rogue, she's alright. He said she didn't mean to do it, she just freaked out. Apparently she's some kind of energy vampire. She borrowed your healing ability when she touched you, so her stab wound healed up right away. It just drained ya dry, unfortunately. You're gonna have to lay in bed for a while until you get back up to speed, but at least everyone'll make a full recovery."

I exhaled in relief. When we arrived at the mall and Jubilee freaked out at the protest, I thought we were in for a lot of trouble. Everything happened so fast from there, I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt. "How'd we get..."

"Back home? Storm was just leaving the mall and saw it happen," he explained. "She dispersed the crowd, then Jubes broke every traffic law speeding the four of you back here. It's a wonder there wasn't a swarm of cops following her, for cryin' out loud. But it's all water under the bridge now. You're safe, and that's what matters."

Pleased with Logan's concern, I managed to roll myself from my side onto my back so I could look at the clock on the nightstand. That was when I noticed our bedroom was absolutely filled with get well trinkets. There was a teddy bear sitting on the floor that I'm pretty sure was bigger than me, a couple things of flowers, a lot of little stuffed animals with get well cards, and for some reason a takeout menu from my favorite Asian buffet.

"Oh, that. Well, I didn't want to have the food sitting around getting cold, so I'll go get it when you want me to," Logan mumbled, when he saw me eyeing it suspiciously.

"You did all this?"

"...Yeah."

I'm trying to not to laugh while imagining him hauling a giant bear through the mansion. "Why? This is more up Remy's alley than yours."

"Remy did help," he admitted, "but it was my idea. I wanted to apologize for being an asshole and yelling at you. I never should have suggested that you weren't capable of helping me. I've just been a little wound up recently because my feral side wants to run and my sensible side wants to stay. Regardless, I was wrong. Please forgive me."

"...It's not often that the fearsome Wolverine apologizes," I said, doing my best to shimmy closer to him. "Don't worry, I forgive you. I probably should have realized you were just as hurt by my fleeing as I was by your yelling."

Mutually satisfied, we spent the rest of the morning lazing around in bed while I recovered my strength. By the afternoon I was mobile, so we decided to head down for lunch. Leaving our room, we were stopped in the hall by a rather anxious looking Remy.

"Ah, _mes amis_ , you haven't seen Rogue anywhere, have you? Little Iceman was gonna have lunch with her but he says she never showed up. I even asked Jubilee and Betsy, they haven't seen her." Remy looked worried, and it was even enough to agitate Logan.

"Come on, let's go see if Charles knows where she is," Logan grumbled, urging us toward the elevator. From reading his body language I could tell he felt somewhat guilty for her disappearance, and he was just as eager to find her as Remy. When we got to the Professor's office, Ororo and Scott were already there, and from the looks on their faces, they knew what was going on.

"Lil' Rogue's gone missing," Remy spoke up.

"Yes, we're aware of the situation," Charles assured him. "I used Cerebro to track her down. She's at the train station." Logan immediately turned to leave, but he called him back. "Logan, wait. You can't leave the mansion, it's just the opportunity Magneto needs to intercept you. Until we know what he wants, you need to stay here."

"Look, bub, did you see how shaken up she was yesterday? I'm the reason she took off, I need to go let her know I'm not angry with her!"

"Calm down, Logan," Ororo interjected. "She's alright, she's just a little upset. Scott and I will go talk to her."

Remy nodded in agreement. "Let 'em go, _mon frère_ , maybe some new voices can get through to her." Logan watched the pair leave, but a few moments later followed them out of the room. It doesn't take a psychic to know he's not going to listen to the Professor.

Rather than wait around to be proven right, Remy and I decided to go about our business. I was starving and Remy was itching to cook something, so it worked out to our mutual benefit. Not even a half hour later, Jean ran into the kitchen in a huff, telling us to watch the kids before her and the Professor took off. We found out why when Jubilee ran into the kitchen and turned on the TV, showing us what was being billed as a mutant attack on the train station. It was hard not to recognize the bright red blast coming out of the roof.

We watched in awe as Magneto held the police force in terror, and when Remy spotted Rogue unconscious over one of the henchmen's shoulders, he flipped. "Fred fucking Dukes! That son of a bitch!"

"You know that guy?"

" _Oui_ , used to bother the LeBeau family quite a bit. Always figured him for trash. Blob like him, to low for even Magneto t' associate with. What the hell does he want with Rogue?"

I shook my head. "She's just a kid..."

We all walked around on eggshells waiting for everyone to come back. When I saw the expression on Logan's face I knew something had gone horribly wrong, and my suspicions were confirmed by the argument he had with the Professor about why he didn't see that Magneto wanted Rogue instead of him. While I tried to get Logan to calm down, Remy decided he was going to take matters into his own hands and bring Rogue back. Or he would have, if not for the fact that the moment he opened the door, a traumatized Senator Kelly fell right into his arms.

* * *

A/N: I've substituted Dukes/Blob for Sabretooth in Magneto's Brotherhood, because Creed is busy. It works because Blob has belonged to the Brotherhood in the comics at various points. It also works because I say so. XD


	27. Liberty Island

A/N: Happy Labor Day! This chapter wraps up the X1 portion of the story, for the most part. There are a few more DoFP references as well. There will be an X2 portion, though it will be vastly different (obviously, since the DoFP ending still counts).

* * *

We all listened rather solemnly as the Professor told us what Senator Kelly witnessed while in Magneto's clutches, and how Hank and Jean described the damage done to his body's molecular structure. The machine the Professor described had the ability to emit radiation that would convert humans to mutants, though as evidenced by the Senator's condition, it was highly unstable. Sure enough, at that moment Ororo came running in the room telling us that he had died.

" _Mon Dieu_ , he don' know that thing kills, does he? Dependin' on where Magneto uses that machine, he could wipe out ta' whole city!"

Logan thought about Remy's outburst, then turned back to the Professor. "Hang on. You said this thing draws its power from Magneto, and that after he was weakened?"

"Yes, from the Senator's viewpoint he looked quite spent from just a small demonstration."

" _Merde!_ " Remy pounded his fist against the wall about the same time Logan snarled, and it was obvious they came to the same conclusion.

"They're going to use her to power the machine!" Logan snapped, before running out the door with Remy in tow. Scott and I immediately chased after them, Scott yelling for the two to quit being impulsive and act like X-Men. Remy was already halfway upstairs for his gear, but I managed to catch Logan in the locker room.

"Logan! What are you doing, you don't even know where Magneto is! Come on, you and Remy need to take a second and strategize."

"This is my fault, darlin," Logan said as he changed into his uniform, "and I need to make it right. Rogue wouldn'a taken off if not for me, so I gotta bring her back safe."

"Alright, but what exactly are you gonna do?" I raised my voice, mostly out of worry. "In case you've forgotten, your bones are covered with metal, and that guy can freeze you solid! That's assuming he doesn't just turn you into a tin can first!"

"Remy can play with him, then."

"Well then, then what about your jealous ex-girlfriend? While you're playing with her, there's also the frog man and the fatass to worry about!"

"Baby, I think I can take that many at once. Why-" Our mini-argument was cutoff by shouting from the hallway, and we emerged to see Hank carrying an unconscious Professor into the med lab.

"What the fuck happened?!" Logan shouted, while I ran over to Scott and Jean inspecting Cerebro's control logs.

"We don't know," Jean answered. "Professor was trying to find Rogue, and then I felt a cry of panic before Cerebro opened back up. He was laying on the floor convulsing."

"No one unauthorized tried to access the control panel from this side, so it must be internal tampering," Scott suggested. "Damn. We can't have this, not now!"

Logan came over to the controls and sniffed the air, then entered Cerebro's main chamber. After sniffing the control panel, he reached below and pulled out a drawer exposing the internal components. "Jean."

Jean came over and inspected the machinery, quickly spotting the foreign component. "That cylinder, what's that? It doesn't belong there..."

Scott leaned over her shoulder, staring into the device. "Who would know enough to get in here and install foreign components?"

"Raven," Hank answered from the doorway, face downtrodden and disappointed. "It's not like she hasn't done it before."

"Hank, the Professor?"

"I'm sorry, Scott, he's going to need quite a bit of time," the doctor answered. "Several hours. I don't know exactly what that thing did, but it shocked him pretty bad. He should recover, but not as quickly as we need."

"If only we knew where Magneto was going," Ororo sighed.

"I'll work on repairing Cerebro as quickly as I can, then I'll try to locate Rogue," Jean said, so everyone dispersed to get ready or plan. By the time I caught Remy and filled him in, he was ready to start upturning New York brick by brick until he found them. Instead, I convinced him to hold off for the Professor's sake and wait for Jean.

Scott decided that Hank should stay at the mansion and look after the Professor, in case anything worsened. Logan and Remy would not be left behind no matter how emotionally compromised Scott insisted they were, so they were going, end of story. Ororo joined in case they needed environmental camouflage, and I suggested Jean go for medical support. I volunteered to stay behind and watch the kids, since Jubilee and Peter were the only ones left behind, and I'm pretty sure Logan wouldn't let me go anyway. Just as we had finished planning, Jean came in. Rogue was on Liberty Island, meaning Magneto's target was the United Nations summit. We had very little time.

* * *

The Blackbird landed on Liberty island, and the team disembarked under the cover of Storm's fog. "Alright, where is the bastard?" Logan looked around, before he noticed the odd new coloring around the base of Liberty's torch. He waved the rest of the team over, grabbing Remy who was the closest. "Cajun, up there..."

" _Oui_ , Remy see it. How we gettin' up there? Nobody but Stormy can fly."

"We'll have to climb through the statue," Scott answered, waving the rest of the team through to the visitors center. Inside, Scott, Jean, and Ororo moved through the ground floor, as Logan and Remy hung back by the entrance.

"Hey, there's something here."

Scott swept the area, before looking back at Logan. "Where? I don't see anything."

"I don't know, I just know. Keep your eye open." The girls snickered, while Scott sighed and continued advancing. Just then, Remy jumped down from the rafters and tackled Remy to the ground, knocking his staff from his hands. The momentum rolled the two of them into the side stairwell, and knocked the English right out of the Cajun.

" _C'est quoi ce bordel?!_ " shouted the downed Remy, wide eyes full of his exact replica.

Fake Remy winked at his double and kicked the sliding door shut, cutting the two of them off from the rest of the shocked team. Remy got up out of his stupor and threw a card at the other, but he just jumped out of the way and ran up the stairs. Grabbing another card, Remy followed, but this time ran smack into his own bo staff.

" _Mon Dieu_ , you gonna get it fo' dat," Remy mumbled, wiping blood from under his nose. He couldn't believe he was this out of it, thrown off by a little shape shifting trickery!

"Remy don' believe dis his day," fake Remy mocked back in a perfect imitation of his voice, only serving to piss the Cajun off even more. The real Remy grabbed a handful of cards and whipped them at his double, who like before jumped over them. When he landed behind Remy and kicked him in the ribs, Remy stumbled, but the next kick was interrupted by a strong adamantium reinforced elbow to the owner's back.

Mystique cried out and lost control over her shape as Logan's elbow connected with the small of her back, sending her flying into the wall. "You have a problem with me, you take it up with me." Not giving her a chance to get away, he picked her up and slammed her back into the wall, claws exposed to either side of her throat. "But to do something so cowardly as to hand me over to Stryker because I wouldn't be your soldier for your fucking mutant revolution? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with you, Wolverine?" she spit as she laughed, eying the metal gleaming against her throat. "Looks like Stryker made you invincible. You actually have some kind of gripe about that? I knew you had memory problems like all Vietnam vets, but I didn't think you were that fucked up. I don't know how you got tangled up with that fucker but it had nothing to do with me."

"Bullshit! Last I saw you was the fall of '72, and that's the last I remember before escaping Stryker in '83. Ten years of my life, gone! You think that's coincidence?"

"Uh, _no_ , last you saw me was the Peace Accords in '73 with Charles, Hank, and Erik," she corrected. "You really need to have Charles do something about that Alzheimer's of yours. When he wakes up, that is..."

Logan narrowed his eyes. He had no memories of being in Paris with Mystique, let alone being with Charles or especially Magneto. He could tell Mystique wasn't lying, but he wasn't in the mood for her games. He retracted his claws, smacked her across the head hard enough to knock her unconscious for a while, and dropped her. Turning to Remy, he motioned up ahead. "Hey, you okay?"

"Might need some therapy after gettin' ma ass kicked by maself, but otherwise _bon_."

They caught up with a rather smug Ororo and were informed that Toad was no longer a problem, then found Scott and Jean at the base of the passageway to the torch. "Logan," Scott stared at Remy, before inquiring, "is that the real one?"

" _Va te faire foutre!_ " responded Remy, causing Ororo to smack him rather hard.

Logan looked up through a hole in the ceiling and spotted the torch, with a clear view of the contraption attached to the base. He could hear Rogue screaming for help, but as he tried to move, he was frozen in place. "Get out of here, now. GO!"

"What? Why?" Ororo stepped forward toward Logan, but was suddenly swept backward by a copper girder wrapped around her waist. Remy ran to help her, but he was grabbed next and flung into the wall with his hands pinned above his head. Scott tried to fire at the girders as they grabbed Jean next, but he was quickly grabbed and pinned beside her, face to face. Logan was saved for last, and was slammed into the wall next to Remy.

"Ah, my brothers have come to witness this historic event." Magneto stepped out from the shadows, accompanied by his final henchman, Blob. "Hmm, but it seems we are not all prepared to watch the show..." With a flick of his hand he manipulated Logan's arms, pointing them so that his claws would only unsheathe into his own chest. Blob then strode over and removed Scott's visor, just barely giving him enough time to close his eyes before blasting Jean in the face. Finally, Magneto's gaze settled on Remy. "And then there's you."

"... _Moi_?" Remy raised his eyebrow, as did Ororo and Logan. What about him?

"Oh yes, the one and only Gambit. We can't have you getting too excited and charging the statue. We wouldn't want a national landmark blown to bits now, would we?" Magneto smirked, as the metal around Remy's hands began to compress. Remy could no longer keep from screaming as the bones in his hands started to crack from the pressure, and he even lost momentary control of his mental shields causing Jean to pick up projections of his pain.

"HEY, ASSHOLE!" Logan shouted at Magneto, annoying him enough to stop the torture. "You're so full of shit! You talk about being in favor of mutants and being on our side, yet you kidnap and sacrifice them, and you torture the ones who try to rescue them! Charles said you lost your family? Well now you're the bad guy trying to take our family from us!"

Magneto sneered, before floating into the air. "You said to me once that I was a survivor. You're right, Logan, as we both are. But I am tired of merely _surviving_ the human race."

Logan digested the rather odd statement, as he struggled in his restraints. Though just like Mystique's Paris comment, there was no time for pondering. Rogue's screaming was picking up, Remy's muted whimpers were out of character and signaled just how much pain he was in, and the team was trapped with a lecherous guard who had started feeling up Ororo like she was for the taking.

With no other option as the machine began operation, Logan took a deep breath and expelled his claws into his chest. Jean screamed as he howled in pain, but the ploy worked. His claws were just long enough to sever the beams holding him to the wall, and he dropped to the floor.

Blob scoffed as Logan hit the floor, and ripped a hand railing from the catwalk to use as a poking stick. When he got close, Logan slashed at his calf before jumping upright. Blob hissed and swung the railing like a bat, missing Logan's head. Logan caught it with his claws and halved it, using the opening to kick at him. The kick didn't seem to affect Blob due to his mutated weight, so he took advantage of Logan's confusion to shove a piece of the rail through his stomach.

Logan hissed in pain, but while he was doubled over he spotted Scott's visor discarded in the corner. _Jean, you hear me? The visor_ , he called, hoping she had enough control to block out all the unfortunate distractions.

 _Where is it? I have to be able to see it_ , she reminded him, so he set about maneuvering himself so that Blob wouldn't catch onto what he was doing. He pulled out the bar and staggered a bit, positioning himself directly in front of the visor. He then threw the bar like a spear at Blob, who ducked as intended. The distraction gave Logan a second to pick up the visor, and by the time Blob realized the mistake and charged him, he had already thrown it over to Jean. She had caught it with her mind and angled it just right.

"Scott... now!"

Scott opened his eyes as Blob ran forward to grab the visor back, and the resulting blast sent him flying through the statue and out into the bay. Now that they were rid of Blob, Logan hurried and cut everyone down. Remy was a little more troublesome, as Scott had to blast the beams away from his hands and arms to free him.

" _Merci, homme..._ "

"Shh, brother," Ororo urged, rubbing Remy's forehead as she cradled him in her lap. "How are we going to get Rogue?"

Logan looked up at the machine and grimaced. "Scott, can you hit it?"

"The rings are moving too fast, and I can't shoot the base without risking Rogue. Storm, can you lift me up there?"

"I can create a whirlwind, but I can't control where you would land."

"Then throw me up there," Logan suggested. "If I miss and overshoot, Scott can always fire from down here."

Scott and Ororo looked at each other, before Ororo nodded. "Okay, I'll lift you up. Jean, can you help steady him?"

"I'll try."

"Then everyone hang on to something." Ororo held on to Remy as she created the wind necessary to lift Logan up to the machine. Jean held Logan as steady as she could until he was over the machine, and when he was right overtop the rings, both girls cut out.

Logan dropped onto the machine and expelled his claws. He rose up to impale the main bar, but Magneto appeared and held him back. Logan struggled, but Magneto had enough energy left to constrain him.

Scott noticed Logan struggling, and rose his hand to his visor. "I have a shot."

"No, Scott!"

"I'm taking it, Jean." Scott fired, hitting not the machine but Magneto. Logan was released, and impaled his claws through the machine. The rings exploded and the waves stopped, sparing the United Nations summit below.

Logan quickly jumped down to Rogue, who by now had fallen unconscious. He cut her ties and freed her from the device, noting how drained she looked. The front locks of her hair had even turned white. "Rogue... Rogue!" She wouldn't respond, he could barely even hear her heart beating. Running out of time, he yanked his glove off with his teeth and pressed his hand to her cheek. "Come on, come on..." He failed to notice the blood running down his chest and abdomen until he and Rogue gasped in tandem, and then suddenly he was the one unconscious.

* * *

A/N: Remy outburst 1: "What the hell is going on?". Remy outburst 2: I typed "kiss my ass" into the translator, but the same sentence can mean "go fuck yourself", so you can take your pick. Either way, Stormy does not approve. ;)

It may seem like Remy's wimping out over such a trivial injury, when he's a real badass and has probably recovered from worse, but I figured that since his mutation and his skills rely so much on his hands, they're probably extra sensitive. But don't worry, he'll spring back.


	28. The Little Box

A/N: Sorry for the delay! This wraps up the X1 part of the story! This chapter is rather sappy. :/ But it's sort of necessary for what I plan in the next part of the story.

Also, if you haven't already, please check out my spin-off story "The Baby with the Blue Eyes", a what-if where Elle did not escape the facility (and thus didn't meet Logan) until she was 15. It will be much shorter (probably no more than 15-20k) and fluffier than this one. :)

* * *

I laid up on the bed, staring at the little box I found shoved inside a sock in the back of the cabinet where Logan keeps the liquor. I'd been looking for the bottle of Midori when I stumbled across it; I don't usually drink, but my nerves were pretty frazzled. Then I find this sock, and just when I start to grumble about Logan being lazy with his laundry, a little box comes tumbling out. Of course I'm gonna look inside.

Ring. There's a ring in this box. And then when I pick up the insert there's another larger ring underneath with the receipt, dated six months ago. These... these are wedding rings. Logan bought wedding rings. They're really something, platinum bands with what looks like little vines on the visible side. The smaller of the two has a large sapphire flanked by four diamond 'petals' in the center, while the larger has four sapphire leaves along the top. He remembered that I didn't like diamonds, and instead picked the color of his eyes.

Still awestruck, I'm brought back to my senses when I heard the whirr of the Blackbird's engines as it settled in for landing. I threw the box back together and shoved it in my pocket as I ran to the elevator. I appeared in the hangar as the hatch opened, and realized something was wrong as Hank rushed into the jet. Rogue emerged first, wrapped in a blanket and shaking.

"Rogue?"

When she saw me, she ran over and began crying into my shoulder. She looked traumatized, even though the only physical damage seemed to be the discoloration of her hair. She just kept muttering apologies into my chest, no matter how much I told her it wasn't her fault.

The next thing that hit me was a wave of vague discomfort and sadness, which I recognized as Remy's empathy. He didn't usually share his feelings, in fact he kept his mental shields up so strictly that even the Professor had trouble getting through to him. The only people he opened up to were me, Logan, and occasionally Ororo, and even then only in worse case scenarios. I looked over and saw Ororo helping Remy out of the jet, his hands heavily wrapped and splinted.

"Remy...? My god, what happened to you?"

"Lost a fight wit' a penny," he chuckled, though from the way Ororo cringed I could tell his joke was pure bravado.

"The blood under your nose, yours or someone else's?"

"Remy's, from a fight wit' Remy."

"That makes no sense."

"Oh believe me _chère_ , no sense anywhere _ce soir_."

Remy was loopy, probably from something Jean gave him on the jet, and he was starting to broadcast it. I should just let him rest. "Logan... Where's Logan?"

All at once, everyone tensed around me. Rogue squeezed my stomach so hard I thought I wouldn't be able to breathe, and proceeded to soak the other side of my sweater. Ororo bowed her head and muttered to her Goddess. Remy winced, then turned back to the jet.

Wait, don't tell me Hank was...

I broke away from Rogue and ran at the jet. All kinds of nasty thoughts were going through my head, and I couldn't deal. I needed to see Logan. Before I could see what was going on, though, Scott came out of nowhere and held me back.

"Elle, wait."

"Let go of me, Scott!"

"No, Elle. You need to listen to me." Scott turned us away from the jet, and held my head still so I couldn't see what was going on behind me. I heard shuffling and the sound of a stretcher being unloaded, then everyone cleared the hangar except for him and Ororo.

"We got there in time to thwart Magneto's plan," he continued, "but not in time to stop him from using the machine. It was at the top of the Statue of Liberty, and we had to fight to get to the torch where the machine was placed. That's how Remy got injured the first time, when Mystique tried to slow us down."

"'From a fight with Remy...'"

Scott nodded. "After that, we were ambushed at the crown by Magneto and Blob, and Magneto tied us all to the statue's framework. Magneto must have realized Remy could have just blown himself free, so he bent a girder around his hands."

Holy shit... no wonder Remy was projecting so badly. I can only imagine how he was projecting when it happened. "And Logan...?"

"Logan's arms were bent up against his chest, so he wouldn't be tempted to try and cut himself free," Ororo explained. "Of course he did so anyway, cutting through his own chest to free himself. Scott's visor was knocked off into a corner, so Logan fought with Blob as a distraction until he could throw it to Jean. During the fight, Blob impaled him with a piece of metal pipe."

"So? He can heal those kinds of things."

"He did," Scott finished. "Jean got my visor back, and I dispatched Blob. Storm and Jean then guided Logan up to the torch through a whirlwind, so he could destroy the device. Magneto tried to interfere, but I took care of that."

"Okay, so what happened? Where's Logan?!" I struggled against Scott's grip on my shoulder, but he wouldn't relent.

"...We weren't exactly quick enough," he explained, bowing his head. "Rogue was nearly dead. The machine took a lot out of her, and I guess Logan felt like he had no choice."

"No... choice...?" Then I felt a shudder go through me, bringing back what Rogue did yesterday. I felt like how I did after Sabretooth mauled me, and I was in good health. If Rogue did that to Logan, and he was already injured...

Suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe. My legs gave out, and if Scott hadn't been holding on to me, I would have been a pile on the floor. The realization that Logan could die from his injuries without his healing hit me so hard, and I just started crying. Ororo took me from Scott and murmured for me to calm my breathing, just as Rogue came back in the hangar.

"Yes? Okay, we'll be right in," I vaguely heard Scott say, before he patted my shoulder. "Hank would like you to come over to the med lab. He says you can help Logan in the same way he once helped you. Are you feeling up to it?"

I didn't quite understand, but I wanted to help him so I nodded. I could barely walk the short distance from the hangar to the med lab to begin with, but when the doors opened and I saw Logan laying there, I was done. Six small punctures across the top of the chest, one large hole through the abdomen, numerous bruises, but above all, color that suggested Logan had lost much more blood than I ever did with Sabretooth.

"Elle? Elle!" Ororo picked up the slack as soon as Elle's legs dropped out from under her for the second time, but couldn't get a response out of her, even after waving a hand in her face. "Hank, I think she's lost it."

"Did you ask her consent? I don't have nearly enough stored from either of them," he replied, referring to the school's emergency blood reserve. Given that the two were the only ones who shared their unique blood type, Hank usually made Elle and Logan provide samples more frequently than the other team members. Even so, there wasn't enough to counter how much Logan had lost.

"I told her what you needed her for," Scott answered, gathering Elle up and carrying her over to a chair beside Logan. "She agreed."

"Then this is the best option." Hank picked up a syringe and gave Elle a quick shot in the arm. After a few moments, she lolled her head over in unconsciousness.

Scott reacted in surprise. "What did you do? I thought you wanted her to donate blood."

"I do, Scott. But given the reaction just now, I thought it best to sedate her," he explained. "She was clearly in shock, so I gave her one cc of carfentanil."

"That's for horses!" Rogue exclaimed, having a little knowledge from her days back home.

"I don't want her to wake in the middle of the procedure. We just need to get Logan through the worst of it, then he'll be fine. His healing will kickstart itself, and she'll see that he's come back to her." Hank nodded, and set to work. "Now, Rogue, you go on up to your room and have a rest. Ororo, go see if Jean needs any help taking care of Remy's fractures. Scott, go ahead and get Elle on the table there, while I prepare the equipment..."

* * *

Logan woke rather quickly, once his body corrected the blood loss and adjusted to Rogue's energy drain. He only took twenty four hours to recover. The first thing he saw when he woke was a furry blue face, which he really had to resist growling at. "...Not what I wanted to wake up to."

"Well I'm sorry, old friend, but this is my lab and I am the one most likely to be here," Hank chuckled in reply.

"Did it work?"

"If you are referring to your efforts to aid young Rogue, it did indeed. She is upstairs in her room, taking some time with Jean to calm down. Remy's fine, too, he just has a broken bone in each palm. You, on the other hand, are in much deeper trouble than you think."

Logan frowned, until Hank flicked the lights on in the lab. He must have been really out of it, because this whole time he was talking to Hank, he didn't realize Elle was sleeping right beside him in the large hospital bed.

"When you came back here, you were so perforated that we had to give you a blood transfusion," Hank explained. "But you know that I don't have that much of your type in stock, and I had wanted to spare her from seeing you in that condition. I had no choice but to ask her to help, and of course it sent her into a panic attack."

"What?!"

"I ended up having to sedate her for the transfusion. She was still a little weak from her own event, so the panic attack plus the sedative exhausted her. I kept her for observation." Hank then walked over to his desk, and withdrew a small box from the drawer. "You're lucky Scott and I are the ones who took care of you two and not the girls, because if one of them had found this in her belongings, there would have been trouble."

With a smirk, Hank sat the box near Logan's palm. He took one look at it, and his eyes widened. "Where'd you find that?"

"It fell out of her pocket, after I changed her into a scrub gown. You apparently didn't hide it well enough, wherever it originally was. It doesn't take a genius with six PhDs to know what's inside it." Hank looked at his watch, then back to Logan. "I'd say you have a few more hours before she wakes up to practice."

"...Been practicing for six months, bub."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, my friend," Hank replied, and retreated to the other end of the lab to give Logan some privacy. Logan smiled at the box, before turning and cozying up to Elle.

* * *

Nightmares are a funny thing. Logan stopped having his nightmares for the most part, after he stabbed me when I was sixteen and went to the Professor for counseling. I usually don't have nightmares, but when I do, they revolve around things like my time in Stryker's facility or fears of loved ones being taken away. The most frightening are the latter, and they usually involve people like Remy or Jubilee since they are vulnerable. Now the nightmare is about Logan, and I can't stop seeing that horrible image of him punctured and bleeding on the med lab table...

The first thing I did when I woke was move to rub the tears out of my eyes from my nightmare, but as I did so, I somehow stabbed myself in the eyelid. "Ow... the hell?" Groggy, I open my eyes and find that the ring that was in my pocket is now on my finger. Before I could start figuring out what was going on, a giant paw covered my cheek and kissed the sore eyelid.

"Not like yer gonna say no, so didn't see the need to ask."

Gasping, my eyes immediately filled back up with tears. Logan was awake, I couldn't care less about what else was going on. I threw my arms around his neck so tightly, I pulled over the IV stand I was hooked to, making a loud crash and of course causing Hank to come grumbling into the room. I heard him mumbling something about 'Howletts being destructive risers' as he cleaned up the mess, whatever that's supposed to mean.

"I heard you had a bit of a meltdown when I came back," Logan said, smoothing my hair out. I nodded. "It's okay, darlin, you don't need to be scared. I don't feel near as bad as when Gumbo laid me out, so as long as we don't piss him off, I should be good. And let me tell ya, there's only one other guy I know besides him who actually stands a chance at doin' me in."

"Sniff... who's that?"

"Let's just say he's big and green." Logan chuckled, then picked up my left hand. "So you found my hiding spot, huh?"

"...Yeah. I was gonna yell at you for leaving laundry around," I laughed, before glancing at the ring. "I thought you said I was too young for this?"

"When I was a kid, women were still getting married in their teens. Besides, I already think of you as my mate. I love you the same, married or not. I mean, we're already family, so I guess all this really does is just change your last name into mine..."

"Stop trying to sell me, like you said it's not like I was gonna say no."

Logan grinned, then rolled me over onto his stomach for our first big kiss as an engaged couple. I marveled at how good the ring on his finger looked, until I noticed the lunar notches where his blades emerged. "Hey... Won't they break it?"

"Nope, called in a favor from a friend in Japan. Bands ain't made of platinum."

Holy shit. "These... these are adamantium?"

"You thought I was gonna wear anything else?" Logan and I chuckled at the same time, and just laid back down to rest for a little bit. "...You want a ceremony, or just keep going as is?"

"Remy will kill us if we don't have some kind of celebration."

"Give him a bottle of Rip Van Winkle with a bow on it, and he'll forget all about it."

"I'm fine with keeping it low key if you are. Like you said, we're already family..."

We were interrupted a few moments later by a very timid Hank. "Excuse me, I hate to interrupt the two of you in your recent celebratory state, but Charles has warned me that one of you has apparently projected your happiness a little too loudly."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "...And?"

"Jean, Ororo, and Jubilee know."

We both groaned and withdrew into the bed, hoping that Hank had the decency to lie and say we were still too sick to come out. Last thing we needed was to be pounced on by the self appointed 'planning committee'.

* * *

A/N: I based the rings off real ones, Elle's is the second result when you google image search 'sapphire engagement ring', while Logan's is the 34th result for 'sapphire wedding ring'. Also carfentanil is more like an elephant/dinosaur tranquilizer than for horses, but how would Rogue know that?

I'll be going back and fixing Remy's French lines in the last chapter, thank you to Rasha007 for correcting them.


	29. Charged

A/N: Okay, this starts the X2 part of the story. To warn you upfront, it is going to be very different from the movie (mainly because we know that X2 doesn't happen in the DoFP timeline).

Because I am lazy, you will note the nice bold timeskip. To be frank, we don't care about what everyone was doing in between chapters. They were having fun, saving the day, screwing each other, whatever you want to imagine. ;)

* * *

 **Eight Years Later**

I stood in front of the bookcase, staring at a picture taken on our honeymoon in Nagasaki. Neither one of us had wanted a big wedding ceremony, but we weren't going to turn down the Professor when he offered to let us use the jet for transportation. Then Logan surprised me by finding out who my parents were- it turns out that my father was a Japanese ambassador to Canada, and my mother an academic. He had died shortly after I was born, and after we disappeared, everyone just assumed we moved away.

Logan was able to use his connections to find out that he was from an area north of Tokyo, so we visited that part of Japan first. Since I did not remember him at all, we didn't bother looking for any family. After that we went to Nagasaki, and Logan showed me where he watched the atomic bomb drop. I knew his healing was incredible, but to think he could survive that, even before his adamantium...

I was knocked out of my reminiscence when thin arms wrapped around me and a lock of auburn hair fell in front of my face.

"Did you tell him yet?"

"Remy, quit hanging on my shoulder."

"Remy knows you didn't, because if you did, he'da told everyone else by now."

"Yeah, I know. Which is why I didn't tell him!" The current topic of discussion, or should I say nondiscussion, centers around a little secret I have yet to tell Logan. That secret would be that shark week was supposed to be two days ago. A month ago, two days ago. _Monsieur_ Big Mouth caught me in the lab by myself running a blood test and staring dumbstruck at the computer screen, so of course he came over to see what was going on. I didn't need to speak French to figure out what ' _enceinte?!'_ meant.

"If you don't tell him soon, he'll probably be able to hear the heartbeat," Remy mumbled, poking at my chest. "Don't they start around a month or so?"

"Hell if I know. ...I don't know what to say to him," I admitted. "Every time he's mentioned kids, it's been something to the effect of 'rotten brats' or 'glad we don't have any little smartasses around'. I think he thought I was going to be the only child he raised."

" _Sûrement pas!_ He will love to be a real father, Remy knows dis. You always say he's a lone wolf, but he wants a pack. He got his mate, next step is the pups. Heh, full Canadian pups, too. You know what dat means, hockey games and bacon will be mandatory. Betcha papa even gives 'im his first Molson at age eighteen."

What a pathetic joke. "Well you know as soon as I tell him, it's at least ten to fifteen years of house arrest," I protested, flopping down on the couch. "No more X-Men, no more motorcycles, no more junk food, hell, I won't even be allowed around either of you because you two smoke!"

I got a little teary, so Remy pulled his cigarettes out of his jacket and threw them into the air, where they promptly exploded. "Not anymore. Remy can give up for a little bit."

"For nine months?"

"Don' see why not."

Remy always was good at making me feel better. "Come on, let's go raid the kitchen. Logan will be coming back from his recon mission any time now, and I might have more courage to tell him if I'm stuffed full of food."

* * *

The kitchen was empty for once, rare since it's usually the hub of activity among the teachers. Ororo, Jean, and Kurt were off investigating a disturbance in Boston, Scott and the Professor were in D.C. checking up on Magneto, Peter was attending his mother's funeral, and of course Logan was finishing up his recon mission up north. Hank, Jubilee, Remy, and myself were the only adults in the mansion, though one of the senior students, Piotr aka Colossus was here in case we had any trouble. The guy could turn into solid steel, and even Logan had trouble besting him in a spar.

"Here, nice pre-natal diet," Remy joked, unloading a tuna fish sandwich, potato chips, and pint of ice cream in front of me. "Get your fill before Hank finds out and puts you on Cheerios and orange juice for the rest of the ordeal."

"You fucking kidding me? Logan's gonna be making 3am craving runs when I can't feel my feet anymore." I tore into the sandwich like I'd never eaten before. "Boy or girl?"

"Oh, Remy calling girl," he said, charging his soda so that the cap blew right off. "Logan may be overflowing with testosterone, but those types always end up with little girls."

"Wouldn't he be disappointed, though?"

" _Non_ , he'd love it. Be a chance to raise you all over again. Why, betcha-"

Midsentence, Remy stopped and turned to the window like a startled cat. He stared out into the night sky with _that look_ on his face, and when I saw his hand slip into his jacket I knew something was wrong. He could turn anything into a weapon, but I was limited. I found a chef's knife by the sink, and a boning knife in a drawer. They'd have to do.

Jubilee was in the second floor rec room, Colossus was probably in his dorm, and I didn't know where Hank was. Best plan was to get to Jubilee, she could cause distractions to enable the most students to escape. Colossus and Remy could fight. It would have to do. I flashed my hand in a sparking motion and pointed upward, and Remy nodded that he understood. We crept out into the hall, and watched as a soldier shot at one of the children.

Remy quickly threw a charged card at the soldier, as I spun around and sliced one trying to shoot us from behind. He hit me with some kind of dart, but for once my healing factor didn't let me down. Just then a screeching noise erupted throughout the mansion, which I recognized as coming from a student named Theresa. It hurt but we used the confusion to run up to the second floor.

The noise soon stopped, telling me that one of the soldiers got her, but I had what I needed. Using one of their rifles, I blocked one of the dorms and took down as many soldiers as I could, giving the kids a chance to escape with John. He was a little temperamental, but I had no choice. I saw Remy hand the boy from the first floor to Colossus, so I took off looking for Jubilee. I got another dart but shook it off, and found her helping a group of girls at the end of the hall. She said she saw Hank with the youngest children at the other end of the floor, so I helped her to an escape passage.

I saw another helicopter approaching the front, so I rendezvoused with Remy and hurried to make sure no one was still stuck on the first floor. We had just made it out of the front room when the front door was blown open on us. I got knocked over, and as Remy was pulling me up, something shot out with a growl and tackled him to the ground. Only too late did I realize what, or rather who it was. In the next moment, there was another bang and sudden, intense fire shot through my shoulder, making me drop with a scream.

"That bullet was specially designed to counteract your healing properties. As long as the slug is in the vicinity, your wound won't heal. You can thank Victor for that."

I know that voice. Twenty five years may have changed his looks, but his voice is the same. The same fake 'nice' voice, though the nice seems to have been stripped a little. Stryker.

"I'm also rather pleased that your friend is here with you." Stryker looked up from where I had collapsed, over to see Sabretooth dragging an unconscious Remy behind him. I could see six darts sticking out from his neck, meaning Creed shot him twice after tackling him. "We've been after your pal Remy ever since you were a little girl. We don't appreciate him running away from us."

A guard in camouflage makeup came running over and whispered in Stryker's ear. "...I see. You know what else we don't appreciate, Elle? You helping all the little mutants get away!" Stryker withdrew his pistol and smacked me across the face with the barrel. "Where's Wolverine? The two of you have gotten rather close, so he should be here."

"...Go fuck yourself," I spat back, making him smirk and kick me in the chin. Sabretooth then came over, and threw me so hard into the wall that I lost vision instantly. Everything else just shut down after that.

* * *

A/N: If you haven't already, please check out The Baby with the Blue Eyes, which has suddenly become relevant! As for the chapter title, the house was breached, or "charged". You may have heard the term "pregnant pause", implying that a moment is heavy with meaning or "charged". Remy charges things. And of course, Elle is pregnant.

Stay tuned, because in the next chapter of this story, another character will make an appearance. I wasn't originally going to add him, but it suddenly made sense. Who is it? I can't tell you, but it is someone Remy would rather pay off than fight, and someone Logan doesn't really like (though he thinks they're best friends).

A/N 2: I made another timeline change, due to an error on my part. Oops. I've added a complete story timeline to the last chapter to hopefully ease the confusion.


	30. An Old Frienemy

A/N: To be frank, I've never read any of the character introduced in the second half's material except for a few panels of the series he's doing with Gambit, and his Marvel Database page. So his dialogue is going to be _strange_. I'm trying to make him funny as I can, but I've only got the two movies to go off of (and the first movie fucked him up royally so that one doesn't help one bit). But I will say that I didn't make the cow thing up.

* * *

Logan had a terrible feeling in his gut as he raced back to the mansion. The recon mission had turned up nothing, just a false alarm that Sabretooth had been seen stalking around a senator's residence in Vermont. He had been trying to call Elle and Remy for the last hour without an answer, and not even Ororo or Jubilee would answer their phones. The latter was usually up until the cows came home.

He was ten minutes away from the mansion when his communicator finally went off, and he damn near wrecked his motorcycle trying to answer it. "Elle, are you alright? Why isn't anyone answering the damn phone?!"

"Logan, it's Rogue! Where are you?"

"About ten minutes away, what's going on?"

"Oh, for God's sake, don't go back to the mansion! We've been attacked, we don't know what's going on!"

Logan's blood began boiling. Shit like this always happened when he was away, and he began to suspect that the false lead was a trap. "Where are you?" he hissed through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to pop his claws.

"We're in the underground safe house at the end of the tunnels."

"Are Elle and Remy with you?"

"...No."

 _FUCK!_

"But not everyone's here yet, Logan," Rogue hastily added. "Hank just got here with the babies, and I know Piotr made it out. They might be helping everyone else get out..."

Logan didn't answer, he just hauled ass in the other direction to get to the safe house. When he arrived a few minutes later, he found Hank treating a large scrape on Jubilee's forehead. Rogue and Bobby were taking a headcount of all the children that had made it out, while John and Colossus guarded the door.

"What the hell happened?" Logan demanded as soon as Hank finished.

"We don't know," he answered. "Everything was going along like a normal night, then suddenly the mansion was raided. The only thing I can think of is that it's connected to the two concurrent missions. Kurt and the girls left to investigate a mutant attack in Boston this morning that seemed to come out of nowhere, so Charles went to see if Magneto had anything to do with it."

"And you couldn't wait until I got back?" Logan was about to argue further, but Rogue interrupted with the results of her count. "What do you got?"

"We're missing six students," she said, lowering her head. "...Plus Elle and Remy."

"It was like something out of _Commando_ ," Jubilee grumbled. "Soldiers jumping in through the windows, shooting at us with darts and in some cases bullets, the fucking bastards. I give Elle credit, though, she was stabbin' them like she didn't give a shit."

"Elle was fighting them?" Logan narrowed his eyes. "What did they look like?"

"Standard tactical gear, grease paint, semi-automatic weapons," Bobby answered, shuddering at the recollection. "Though they didn't appear to be actual military. I don't think the government would risk war with us given the progress we've made towards mutant acceptance. Professor said we were on the up and up..."

Logan thought for a minute. "The six missing kids, what powers do they have?"

"Nothing extraordinary," Rogue answered. "They might have just been captured because they couldn't get away fast enough. One of them was pretty young."

"Elle and Remy are fast enough though," Logan sneered. "It has to be something else. I'm going back to find out."

"The hell you are!" Hank interjected. "We need to stay together until we can get in touch with Charles and Ororo. Neither of them know what is going on, so if we don't alert them, they could be returning to a trap."

"I tried Ororo, she wouldn't answer. Besides, there's more than enough of you here to babysit the radio." Logan turned his communicator to silent, then took off down the tunnel leading to the mansion.

* * *

Logan exited the tunnel through the garage, as it was the closest access point that was not inside the mansion. Claws out, he first peered through the window to get a view of the perimeter. There didn't seem to be any activity outside, and he couldn't hear any helicopters or vehicles on the property. He decided to chance heading inside.

The first thing that hit his senses as he crossed into the mansion was the smell of fear. Whoever these people were, they hit and terrified the one safe place that these mutant children could call home. If he had been here, the Wolverine would have slaughtered them. Oddly enough, the next scent he recognized was blood, intermixed with sulfur and ash. Jubilee and Gambit. So Elle hadn't been the only one fighting back.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks when he came across the foyer. The scent of blood was stronger here, and it was obvious the door had been blown open. What caught his attention was the familiar scent of Elle's blood along with the carnage, and he whipped around to see Remy's coat pinned to the wall by a bloody knife. On the knife was a note, as well as a small, silver ring.

His breath hitched as he pulled the knife from the wall, and when he caught the ring, he roared. It was Elle's wedding ring, covered in blood. Remy's coat had a large blood stain around each shoulder, as if something dug into him and tore through his skin. Furious, he opened the note and scowled. All it said was 'come get them, runt'. No clue who took them, though the only one who called him runt was Sabretooth, so that was a start.

There was a sound behind him, causing Logan to immediately whip around and leap with his claws out and ready to impale through whoever stood in his path. He hit the soldier right in the top of the shoulders and knocked him to the floor, but then immediately pulled back. This guy smelled familiar, like weed, sex, and oddly enough, himself.

"...What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I wanted a vacation from the thug life. Got tired of the big money gigs and chasing ass all day." The guard brushed off his injury and sat up, pulling off his helmet and revealing a horribly scarred face and the legendary mouth that went with it. "Plus I thought you'd want to know what I found out about our old pal Billy Boy and his X gang. Did you know Corn Chip Nail Tips upgraded to platinum?"

Logan growled and tackled the smartass back to the ground, shoving his blades back into his shoulders. "If you were here, why the fuck didn't you stop them from taking my wife?! Wade Wilson, you fucking useless piece of shit!"

"Hey, I was too busy screwing up the other part of his plan!" Wade Wilson, better known as Deadpool, used Logan's rage to get the better of him and popped two handgun rounds off in his stomach, taking the opportunity to wiggle out from underneath him. "...Now, if you want to throw a tantrum, be my guest. I'll just go back where I was until you calm down, and finish off the rest of those hot pockets I found in your freezer."

"You fucking bastard."

Deadpool shrugged. As far as he was concerned, it was a bigger sin to let those things go to waste than to play fisticuffs with the Wolverine. "Stryker was planning on copying your boss's mutant mind reader machine. Apparently he found out about it and tried to get access to the chromedome's boyfriend in DC for more information, but the powers that be wouldn't give him clearance. Someone with a level 5 locked him out. That was pretty smart. Anywho, I guess he then figured he'd come straight to the source. But I took care of that."

Logan had a bad feeling about this, especially since Wade's head wasn't screwed on straight. "...What did you do?"

"Ker-BOOM!"

This time Logan lunged at his ankles, nearly making Deadpool's eyes pop out of his head as it bounced off the ground. The few retaliatory gunshots that missed Logan felled a chandelier, and one that hit him took off his ear. "I'm gonna rip off your head and see if THAT grows back, motherfucking cow-fearing twat!"

"Hey now, that's not very nice, someone's gonna owe a fortune to the swear j-YOW!" Logan snapped back Deadpool's neck, shutting him up for about a second before he elbowed him in the jaw and snapped it back in place. "Naughty Wolverine, I'm uploading so much slash smut onto your tumblr for this."

"YOU REALIZE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO FIND HER NOW?!"

Deadpool sighed and basically took the beating that almost-feral Logan unleashed on him, taking an opportunity to slip Logan's communicator off his belt before it got trashed. He fiddled with it until it came off silent mode, and was surprised that he immediately received an incoming transmission. "DP's Chokey Chicken, 'If it's meat, we'll beat it!'"

 _"...What the hell?"_ There were a few muffled whispers on the other end of the communicator, before the same voice came back on. _"Who is this? Where is Logan?"_

"He's currently pounding the hell out of me. _Oh yeah..._ but you better not tell his wife, I think he likes fucking me a little too much. Guess the nuptials won't last, eh?"

There were a few loud gasps, before a distinctly Russian accent took over. _"Give me that, I recognize that voice! Deadpool! What are you doing, where is Logan? Tell the truth!"_

By now, Logan had given up taking his anger out on Deadpool but remained semi-feral, crouched down against the wall clutching Elle's ring and Remy's coat. "Wolvie's here but he's gone bye-bye for now, long story. Your mansion is clear if you want to come back."

 _"Why are you there?"_ Hank, the first voice, took back the communicator. _"You're not exactly one of our closest allies, you know."_

"Is this 'Interrogate DP' night? Yeesh, you guys sure are kinky." Deadpool rolled his eyes, then fished his hood out of his pocket. "Take the help while you got it, X-Gang, I'm better than nothing."

There was a moment of silence on the other communicator, before Hank picked back up. _"...Alright. If Logan is listening, let him know we've gotten in contact with Storm and they're on their way back. YOU, Mr. Deadpool, need to stay put until one of us comes to secure the mansion. Understand?"_

"You've got an unguarded pantry, I'm not going anywhere." Deadpool switched off the communicator, then turned to Logan who was still in mourning. "...Hey Ji, er, _Logan_. Did you hear what they said? Your pals are on the way, apparently."

Logan glared at him, but said nothing.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know, makes no sense. But he will explain!


	31. Big Mouth

A/N: Remember me? I'm sorry this update took so long, life kinda happened. T_T I will try to be a little quicker with future chapters.

A little note about the latter half of this one: DP shows up as in the previous chapter. I tried to make him as wacky as he is in the comics, and did that by using a lot of real world pop culture references. As far as his backstory, I sort of merged the two movies together (after throwing out all the junk parts of Origins). When in doubt, just assume DP knows everything because he read the story before showing up. XD

* * *

" _Chérie_... c'mon, _réveille-toi_! Don' do dis, you got a future ahead of ya! Wake up!"

The sound of fluid in my ears eventually dissipated into muffled words, and I opened my eyes to a cold, damp cement floor. I hate the cold. Everything was hazy but the first thing I picked up on was the smell of rotten blood, and I realized it was all over me. I tried to lift my head to get a view of my surroundings, but everything screamed in pain. I was frozen in place, lying crumpled on my side and barely even able to move my chest enough to breathe.

" _Grâce à Dieu_! Oh, ya scared me so bad, I thought ya weren' gonna make it." Looking straight across the concrete cell, I couldn't make out much in the dark but I sensed faint movement and a few seconds later, a pebble skidded across the floor and bounced off the wall behind me. "Remy here, don't worry."

Pain started to take hold of me again and my eyes drifted closed, but Remy whistled and clanged something against the bars of his cell. "Hey, HEY! Don' you be fallin' asleep on me again, wit' that Genoshan collar on you might not wake back up!"

"Genoshan... collar?"

"It's keepin' your body from healin' itself," he explained. "Damn things turn off mutant genes somehow, otherwise I'da had us outta here by now. Can't even pick through it, cause my hands are cuffed." Remy rattled against the bars again when my eyes slipped shut. "Come on, you have to stay awake, Elle. Tell me about your childhood with Logan."

"Logan...?"

" _Oui_ , you know, short burly guy who gonna come rip _les couilles_ off the two who did this to us and attacked our home? _Ton mari_?"

"What's a... tonberry?"

Remy chuckled, though there was a little hint of something hiding in the laughter. I realized much later that it was concern, and that he thought I was slipping. "Not tonberry, _chère_. Dat's something from one of Jubilee's games. Talk to me about your husband."

Husband. Thinking of Logan made me want to fiddle with my ring like I usually do, and I had enough energy to move my thumb to my ring finger. But the metal I had grown to anticipate was not there, and I suddenly started shaking.

"Elle?! Elle! What's wrong?"

My jaw hurt from the sob I was trying to hold back, but I managed to eek out the word "ring". I hadn't taken that thing off since Logan put it on, after he woke up from the Liberty Island incident. The memory of almost losing him tipped me over, and I cried onto the floor.

" _Je vais le tuer, ce connard_!" Remy hissed, slamming his cuffs against his cell's wall in frustration. "Don' worry, Elle, dis Cajun bettin' all in that your ring's back at the mansion. Creed probably left it dere as some kinda sick taunt. 'M gonna find some way to get dis collar off, den I'm gonna get you outta here, alright, _chère_?"

There was no response. Remy tried again, still getting silence, before detecting a hint of fresh blood. Elle's sobs must have ripped open what little closures her body had managed to form over her shoulder wound, and she had once again slipped into unconsciousness.

Remy launched himself at the cell door and slipped into a stream of French expletives, shouting until he was hoarse and ramming at the bars until his own clawed shoulders ached beyond belief. Eventually, he attracted the attention of a guard.

"I don't know what the hell you're saying, mutant, but shut the fuck up before I shove a bullet down your throat!"

"Listen to me, _fils de pute_! If you don't get that collar off her now, she's going to die. You hear me? Tell Stryker that if she perishes, he's not only going to have the Wolverine to answer to. Remember the Apocalypse Incident? Gambit'll make that look like nothin!"

The guard rolled his eyes as he pushed a button on his radio. "Yeah, right."

"Take dis collar off me and find out!"

"...You still have that mouth on you, I see." Remy turned his attention from the guard to the new voice in the hall, which belonged to the head of the operation. "Welcome back, Mr. LeBeau. Although I must say, I'm not too pleased it took this long to find you."

"Stryker, you bastard, whatever it is you plan on doing to us, ain't gonna be much use to you if Elle's dead before you even start! Take that damn collar off her so she can heal!"

"And let Xavier know exactly where you are?" Stryker clicked his tongue. "I know what his machine is capable of doing, and I'm not about to make it easy for our honored guest to rescue you too quickly."

Remy sneered at Stryker's speech. So this was all a trap to get Logan back. "Wolverine's no fool, you ain't gonna trick him."

"No?" Stryker motioned to his guards, who unlocked Elle's cell and hauled her up onto a gurney. "It's a pretty interesting coincidence that the two subjects I was focusing on for my genetic mutation inheritance experiments ended up living together on their own. Any of those kids at that mansion theirs?"

"Fuck you!"

"Oh look, ya went and scared the French right out of him," a familiar voice sneered, another of Stryker's associates joining the fray. This time Remy was grateful Elle was unconscious, because it was that dog Sabretooth. The Cajun hissed and snarled as Creed mockingly groped Elle's leg, an amusing laugh escaping Stryker's lips as he watched.

"Alright, boys, that's enough fighting for today." With a sinister smirk towards Remy, Stryker and his associates disappeared with Elle down the hall.

* * *

Ororo stood in the main foyer of the mansion, surveying the damage above while she waited for Hank to report on the damage below ground. When she had gotten word that the mansion was attacked, she cancelled her mission immediately and returned home, stopping to pick up Scott and the Professor from Washington. They were both back at the safehouse tending to the children, since there was a lot of panic that the Professor could handle best. Scott on the other hand, would only cause trouble with their newest ally.

"Well, it's useless. Completely, totally, _utterly_ , useless!" Hank came up from the lower levels with a scowl on his face, and just about threw his tablet computer across the room. "It will take me a week at least just to replace the wiring! Why did that fool have to completely DESTROY Cerebro?"

"That was the idea, my furry friend," a muffled voice approached from the hall, which turned into a red and black jumpsuit carrying a plate of pizza rolls. "Nothing left to copy."

"How inconsiderate can you be?" Ororo grumbled, snatching the plate from Deadpool's hand while Hank grumbled. "We came to have a serious talk, not to feed you."

Snatching it back, Deadpool quipped, "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to waste food? Besides, I'm waiting on your redhead and Jimmy-boy. Don't like repeating myself." Deadpool pointed to the common area at the other end of the hall, where Logan was hunched over with Jean sitting beside him.

Jean carefully ran her hand along Logan's back and shoulders, in an attempt to calm him down. She didn't need to dive into his mind to pick up the waves of anger and sadness radiating off of him. He had come down out of his feral rage enough to gesture to the team when they arrived, so she did the most logical thing and whisked him away from the battle's epicenter.

"Logan, you're better at this than I am, but I can't sense a lot of Remy's blood in the entryway. Most of what I'm picking up are the echoes of his presence in the house, and the remnants of the injury on the jacket. Given what I've seen him go through before, he definitely survived whatever that was." Jean watched Logan tighten his grip on the gambler's overcoat, even as he continued staring straight ahead. "Remy's alright, I know it. And if he's awake, you know he'll do his hardest to make sure Elle's okay too."

At the mention of his missing wife, Logan abruptly turned and glared at Jean, though her soft concerned expression made his scowl disappear. She was only trying to help him, after all. "...Do you think Hank can fix it?"

Jean knew he meant Cerebro. "Even if he does, I don't think it will help. Think about your enemies, Logan. This had to be Stryker, who else hates the three of you that much? When Scott, Kurt, and I went to rescue everyone the first time he caused trouble here, he had some kind of electric field that blocked Kurt's teleportation and my telepathy. That was nearly twenty years ago. It's entirely possible that he's since developed something that could block The Professor's power. We'll keep trying, but we need a backup plan."

"...Backup plan is probably what he's here for," Logan grumbled, motioning to the red suited devil down the hall. "He never shows up unless he profits from it."

"I can't read him," Jean admitted. "His brain is..."

"Mush."

" _Moving_ ," she corrected. "It's like it heals too quickly for anyone to make sense of it but him. He must really have seen destroying Cerebro as the only option. If you're ready, we can find out what else he knows."

"I already know who did it, I don't need his help."

"I know you like to play the loner, Logan, but if you want to save Elle and Remy, you can't go charging off by yourself." Jean called down to Ororo, who motioned to Hank and grabbed Deadpool before he could sneak off to the kitchen again. Once everyone had gathered around the small coffee table, Ororo took charge.

"Alright, we shouldn't waste any more time. We don't have any idea how injured Remy and the children might be, or if Elle's healing abilities are compromised," Ororo began. "Deadpool, you obviously knew something was going to happen if you had the foresight to infiltrate the attackers. Why didn't you warn us ahead of time?"

"Woah, calm down Weather Witch, I can smell the ozone." Deadpool flinched, before scooting several seats down the couch. "For starters, I'm only here as a favor for Domino."

Logan perked up, as he hadn't anticipated hearing about that particular mutant again. "Don't tell me you've gotten her involved in your schemes..."

Deadpool scoffed. "What kind of guy do you take me for? She approached me when she heard some nasty stuff through the grapevine about our old pal Stryker, that apparently he was planning on building a replica of Captain Picard's mutant finder. Said you and her helped each other out when you were on the lamb, and she knew you had settled down. Apparently Ellie'd been keeping in touch, and Dom owed you one."

Hank butted in. "How could Stryker possibly hope to build a copy of Cerebro? He would have no way to power the thing without Charles."

"...Unless he had access to another telepath, he would need either The Professor or myself to power it," Jean replied. "I've heard rumors that Mystique once worked with a telepath..."

"That woman's dead," Hank quickly corrected, causing Logan to raise an eyebrow. "A casualty of the Trask era."

"Why do you think all you big shots were lured out of your Hobbit hole?" Deadpool pondered, munching on a candy bar that had appeared out of nowhere. "Professy and Laser Beam were supposed to be the main catch, but for some reason Stryker couldn't get them. I really don't know why, they were practically gift wrapped."

"...Earlier you said someone with a level 5 clearance blocked Stryker from getting access to Magneto," Logan mumbled, causing everyone to turn his way.

"You paid attention to your surroundings during your feral daze?" Hank seemed impressed, noting that any other time, Logan wouldn't have remembered what happened. "Hmm. Well, Erik does know some information about the device, since he helped create it."

"That still begs the question, once Stryker got The Professor or Jean, what would he want Cerebro for?" Ororo turned back to Deadpool. "Do you have any more information? Why is he building this?"

"Duh- to kill all the mutants." Logan slowly raised his fist, prompting Deadpool to continue. "Buuuut, that wasn't all Dom heard. Billy-boy's boss is kinda pissed at his experimenting on mutants. You're the only real 'success' he's had, well, maybe apart from me."

SNIKT!

"Ah, okay! Since he's about to get shut down, or at least he thinks that, he wanted to get revenge on the ones that got away. Meaning you guys. So the mansion attack was twofold."

Jean got Logan under control, then pondered the developments. "Something still doesn't add up. If Stryker wanted Logan to come find him, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to be here when the mansion was attacked?"

Deadpool yawned. "Have these people never watched an action movie in their lives? ...You know who Admiral Ackbar is?"

"Wha-"

" **IT'S A TRAP!** " Deadpool jumped up from the couch as he yelled, startling Jean and causing the rest of them to grumble. Logan grabbed him and immediately threw him back down.

"Cut out the shit, Wade, or you're going to be missing some parts that won't easily grow back. This isn't a game!"

"I never said it was, Wolvie-boy! Red asked a question, and I answered it. How can you guys not see that this is a classic tv-trope certified trap? Stryker got all the heavies to leave the mansion, got a little pissed when he couldn't capture baldy, and came back and took it out on your wife and third wheel. Then he got superpowered Meg Griffin to leave that note as bait for the big man!" Deadpool carefully pushed Logan's fist out from under his chin. "He wants you to go after them. And I'm here because Dom wants me to help you. Otherwise she'll tell Cable I broke his favorite plasma rifle."

Hank snorted from his seat. "I know Cable. He probably already knows you did it."

"Whatever, I'm here now. So what's the plan?"

"We fill in The Professor," Logan declared, and walked out of the room.

* * *

A/N: Remy's lines are pretty easily figured out from context, but " _Je vais le tuer, ce connard_!" is "I'm going to kill that bastard" and " _fils de pute_ " is "son of a bitch". Domino and Cable aren't going to show up, they're just shout outs. _  
_


	32. The Room

A/N: Okay, big warning here: this chapter is a little gruesome. Apart from the strong language, this is probably the most adult chapter so far. Not adult in terms of sex, but adult in terms of themes. Remember the big development in 'Charged'? Well I didn't forget about it. One of the themes of this story is the morality of mutant experimentation after all, and the bad guy has re-entered the picture. Guess what he just found out. :(

* * *

Silence. Eerie, dead, disquieting silence.

This silence was the first thing I noticed as I came back to consciousness. Next was a numbness, spread all over my body. As I opened my eyes, I saw a turquoise glow surrounding the dark, metallic ceiling. Great, a cell. But I couldn't move to investigate anything else, because even if I had the strength to get up, I could just barely feel the edge of a metal clamp around each one of my limbs, holding me down with my arms splayed outward like a crucifix. There was even one around my neck.

Surprisingly, aside from the numbness, the extraordinary pain I was feeling earlier seemed to have faded. I took that as a very _bad_ sign. Sure enough, I hadn't been awake more than five or so minutes before bright lights came on and a voice began barking at me.

"So, you finally decided to rejoin the living. How nice of you to cooperate, Miss Shinobi. Or should I address you as Mrs. Howlett? I believe that was his last name."

My eyes were already pinched shut from the sudden change in brightness, but if I could deepen my scowl, I would. "...Stryker, untie me."

"For you to do what, menacingly roll into a ball on the floor at me? Your bravado is admirable, but I have the upper hand here. Take a good look around." A tapping noise made me realize that he was in an observation room behind me, high enough up that he could see the entire room with no blind spots. "Do you like your accent lighting? You can thank that mutant that tried to assassinate Nixon for it."

...Magneto? I know my history, what's that supposed to mean?

"I seized the helmet he left at the scene and reverse engineered it," Stryker continued. "Took me quite a long time, but I was able to build a force field strong enough to block even Xavier's telepathy. I've built telepath-resistant fields in the past, but never one this strong. Whatever is in the room that currently holds you is invisible to his senses."

"And I'm such a _big prize_ that you have to waste it on me?"

Stryker laughed. "But of course. Your foul mouthed friend had a point, you're no good to me dead. You heal best when I let you do it yourself. Besides, I have the experiment to think about. Do you know what 'gravidity' means?"

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. I do know what that word means. It's the number of times a female has been pregnant. Which in my case, is _right now_. That sick son of a bitch is not touching my baby if I can help it.

"...Your silence is extremely telling," Stryker sneered as I tried to glare a hole through him up in his safe room. "Well I don't care if you know your vocabulary or not, the truth is that we are very much aware of your situation _Mrs. Howlett_. As I said to your Cajun dog earlier, I find it very interesting that the two mutants I had selected for my inheritance experiment ended up living together on their own. And now they're procreating, isn't that nice? Perhaps there is a remnant of my programming left inside your knight in shining armor's thick skull that the little redheaded freak failed to eliminate when she set him free?"

"Don't you talk about Logan or Jean that way!" Though it was an incredibly foolhardy thing to do, I couldn't stop myself from snapping back at his insults. "He's not under your control and she's no freak! She's one of the ones who saved the world after the apocalypse! You should be thanking her!"

Stryker ignored my outburst and continued his tirade. "Regardless, this is an opportunity we shall not waste. And I have six little volunteers from your mutant farm, ready and willing to receive your punishments should you choose not to cooperate with my experiment. To say nothing of what I intend to do to your Cajun friend."

Six little...? _Oh no, the students!_ "You sick bastard, kidnapping defenseless children-"

"Here's how things will proceed," Stryker interrupted, holding up a large tablet display showing the kidnapped children. Each one was shackled and fitted with one of those slave collars Remy told me about, but it looked as though they were also frightened out of their minds. I couldn't help shaking against my own bonds at the sight. "Each time you mouth off to me, disregard an order, or otherwise hinder my work, I let Victor have fun with one of these kids. I should warn you, he's had an eye on the little blonde one since we got back."

As if on cue, Sabretooth stepped into the frame, causing all the kids to shudder and step back into a corner. My eyes widened as I realized his forearm was no longer detached. "Okay, I get it. Tell him to back down!"

Stryker scoffed, and continued his warnings. "I'm not finished. Because of your extended leave of absence, my sample bank has degraded somewhat. What I have on file for Weapon X may not be as complete of a sample as what is potentially inside of you. Therefore I am going to have to run tests on the embryonic tissue and see if it is something we can use. After all, I don't know what kind of weird shit you got into with your Cajun buddy."

Yeah, go ahead and insinuate that I slept around, son of a bitch...

"My preliminary analysis puts development around three weeks, however the testing can't be run until the tenth week. By then, there will be enough growth to collect a specimen."

Specimen?! "You're out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to let you stick needles into my unborn child!"

"You don't have much of a choice in the matter, Elle. Besides, until I can run my tests on the embryo, I'll have to run my tests on you. If you don't cooperate and torturing those little kids isn't enough to make you, LeBeau will be the next volunteer. I have all kinds of anti-mutant weapons that I have yet to test out, I think he would make an excellent guinea pig."

I thrashed against the bonds as best I could, though I admit it wasn't very menacing. Remy is like a brother to me, I won't listen to this bullshit. "It won't take Logan and the others seven weeks to get here, you sick son of a bitch!"

"Oh, well in that case, I can always just abort whatever that thing is inside you and start over. Last time he was here, he wasn't exactly subtle about keeping his DNA off the walls. We have the technology to synthesize reproductive cells from blood, after all."

Stryker's sick laugh stopped me cold. Logan and I had stopped using protection after we got engaged, and even though we weren't actively trying for a child, it had taken me almost ten years to get pregnant. The thought had occurred to me before that maybe I wasn't able to have children. But now that we actually had conceived, I wasn't going to risk someone taking that away.

"...What do you think Logan's gonna do to you once he finds out you were messing around with his kid, huh?" Stryker thinks I have bravado, I'll show him bravado. "Remember what he did the last time he was here? That was NOTHING! He won't kill you, he'll eviscerate you and strangle you with your own entrails! Your bitch Victor won't be able to save you, either, because we're not alone anymore. Remy will get out of those cuffs you put him in, then that collar is gone. Logan will bring backup, and I just know Beast has been dying to rip into another feral. Plus I have a friend who CAN WALK THROUGH WALLS! YOU HAVE ENOUGH FORCE FIELDS TO COVER THIS WHOLE BUILDING?!"

Halfway through my screamfest, Stryker disappeared from view. I kept going anyway, maybe my hormones were driving me. A mad pregnant woman chained to a table isn't an everyday occurrence, so it's not like there were established behavior standards. I doubt I would have followed them anyway, Logan's rubbed off on me too much.

A clang a few minutes later brought me out of my stupor, and a door opened behind me. A few grunts shuffled in and pointed their rifles at me, followed by my new best friend and some kind of cart.

"If I were a different man, I might sew your mouth shut," Stryker began, moving to my arm. Looking at the old scar, he added, "But I've got something that will shut you up without going to all that trouble." Before I could reply, he grabbed something off the cart and jammed it into my arm near the wrist.

After a short scream from searing hot pain, I looked to see a giant metal syringe sticking out of my arm, connected to a tube running to the bottom of his cart. Inside the syringe was a silver liquid, which I'm pretty sure I was familiar with.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but adamantium is extremely poisonous to the human body." Stryker pushed down the plunger on the syringe, laughing as I screamed out in pain. "So poisonous in fact, that when it bonds to one's bones, it starts a process that requires a tremendous healing factor to counteract. Wolverine and Sabretooth have the healing factor required to correct this process. You _don't_."

After a few moments, Stryker ripped the syringe out of my arm. I barely heard a word he said during all of my screaming. My arm was _on fire_ ; I couldn't move because of the restraints, but suddenly it felt as though my right arm was being ripped out of its socket and dragged to the floor. I wanted to pass out from the pain, but it was so intense that I couldn't. I just watched through tears as Stryker took some kind of x-ray, and was shocked when it showed that he only injected a quarter sized patch of metal onto my radius.

"Hmm, would you look at that? A nice little present to keep you docile until your friends show up. Hope it doesn't poison you in the meantime, I'd hate for Wolverine to waste all that effort only to find a rotten corpse."

"Ngh... what about... your precious experiment?"

Stryker shrugged as he and his men vacated the room. "Oh well, there's always that annoying little chippy with the tail."

* * *

A/N: Okay, maybe that gag wasn't the most appropriate for a serious chapter, but I couldn't resist. Anyone know who I'm talking about? I'll give you a hint, DP likes to wear underwear with her picture on it.


	33. Answers

A/N: This one is short, because it bridges what happened so far with the next which will move Logan's group to Alkali Lake. Fair warning, I'm not a military or strategy writer, so if that part sounds odd, my apologies. ^^; Remember that Rogue in this story is the X-Men animated version, not the movie version.

Also, Deadpool is going to say some nasty things about Wolverine's home province. **It's not true**. Alberta is lovely. The author does not endorse any rivalry between Canadian citizens in this story. :)

* * *

"Come on, come on... _Voilà_! That's why you never turn your back on de Gambit."

Stryker may have thought he was hindering the white devil by sticking him in a dark cell, but Remy didn't need light. His unusual eyes gave him a bit of an advantage in the dark, with the tradeoff of extra sensitivity to sunlight. He was currently using that advantage to discreetly file a piece of rock into a lockpick.

"Hey, Cajun, you ready for a little payback?" Remy quickly stuffed his tool into a crevice, just as a set of overhead lights came on and blinded him. The door swung open, to the sound of cracking knuckles and a sinister laugh.

"Ugh _, tu sens la merde._ "

That quip was met with a sharp backhand to the jaw, as Sabretooth stood tall in the cell. "Maybe you forgot, dumbass, but I'm from Canada. Old lady next door spoke nothing but French, and I used to do chores for her until Pa locked me in the basement for killing my brother. So tell me I smell like shit again, and I'll kick your teeth out."

"Big words..."

Infuriated, Sabretooth grabbed Remy by the neck and slammed him into the bars separating the two cells, then threw him against the opposite wall. Remy then collapsed into an unconscious heap, causing his opponent to snort. "Tch, you're just as weak as the rest of them. Wasted my time looking for your scrawny ass..."

Once the rowdy feral stormed out of the cell and the door was relocked, a very faint twitch revealed that the beating left an almost unnoticable crack in Remy's handcuffs. And as his hand uncurled, there was a small stone lockpick between his fingers.

* * *

"I need to talk to you."

The Professor looked up from comforting some students, surprised to see the others back from the mansion so soon. Logan stomped right up to him, a nasty scowl on his face and anger swirling through his head. With the party was the new mutant Deadpool, who immediately started flirting with Rogue and even Bobby.

"Logan, I understand you are in a lot of pain at the moment, but-" Charles was cut off, as Logan grabbed his chair and wheeled him to a private section of the safehouse. The rest of the senior X-Men were so stunned that they merely stood by and watched.

Once out of earshot, Logan let go of the Professor and demanded answers. "Alright, start talking. Something's not adding up and I'm tired of the mystic bullshit. Wade said Stryker was after Magneto, but someone prevented him from gaining access to him. Stryker's a manipulative bastard, he gets what he wants. Who's gonna have the clout to block him from gaining access to a military prisoner like that when someone like you has free visitation?"

"...You're rather perceptive, Logan, I'll give you that," Charles admitted. "Yes, I did have a hand in restricting access to Magneto. I had a... premonition of his plan."

"You WHAT?!" Logan was livid, and had it been any other man before him, Charles would be tasting his claws. "What do you mean you had a _premonition_? You knew this was going to happen? Why didn't you prevent it?!"

"Stopping him from getting to Magneto should have prevented this," he explained. "I can't go into further detail how I know all this, but somehow Stryker got knowledge of Cerebro another way than he was supposed to. The only reason I can come up with is that the awakening of Apocalypse interfered with our history. Perhaps when that monstrosity used me to transmit his message, Stryker thought I had the capability to do so on my own."

Logan huffed around the room for a few minutes in thought, before violently slashing a chair to pieces. "I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, but I don't have time to waste bitching at you. What else do you know that you haven't been telling me?"

"That's a very broad question," Charles answered with a smirk, "but I think the only thing that will help you is that the Alkali Lake base has a hidden underground component. Stryker may have abandoned the above ground compound but chances are his underground base is still in use."

Finished with the conversation, Logan made his way back to the main group, almost knocking into Kurt along the way. He was busy teleporting some of the children with supportive families back to their parents, in order to keep the chaos down. Other children were huddled around Jubilee, Rogue, and Jean, while Scott and Hank discussed what to do about the mansion.

"Logan, we've worked up a plan," Storm said, calling his attention to the table where Deadpool had drawn a crude map of the Canadian Rockies.

"Is this chicken scratch supposed to be Alkali Lake?"

Deadpool snorted at Logan's quip. "Hey, I'm from Saskatchewan, not jacked-up-truck redneck-land. Hey, is it like, a law or something that everyone from Alberta has to have a pair of truck nuts on their vehicle? Because I swear-"

Ororo shut him up with a quick elbow to the gut, because she could see Logan's fist tightening. "Enough boys, there are lives at stake. Deadpool's source says Stryker is still working out of his Alkali Lake compound. We'll have to make a direct assault, assuming that Sabretooth and the militia is there."

"The Professor confirmed there's an underground base," Logan added. "We'll need to breach and evacuate the hostages, plus I have to rip Stryker to pieces. Creed optional."

"I'm more than willing to kill Sabretooth for ya," Deadpool offered, pulling one of his blades and twirling it in the air. "I owe him a pair of swords up the porthole for what he did to an old flame. ...Plus he always told me to shut up. Only people I like can do that."

Logan rolled his eyes. "So who's going?"

Ororo glanced down at the map. "Since we don't know if there will be any further attack on the mansion or even if this safehouse is compromised, Scott is going to stay here with the Professor and Hank to protect the children. The two of you, Jean, Rogue, and myself will go to Alkali Lake."

When Rogue heard her name mentioned, she took it as her cue to join the conversation and detached herself from the group of children. "Jean and I are going to try and find the six kids they took from the mansion," she explained. "Logan, you and Deadpool are tough enough to take on any individual threats, and if there are any masses of troops, Storm can easily blind them enough for Jean to knock them out of the way. I'll do my best to then fly any injured kids straight out of there and back to the jet."

Logan nodded. "If you think you can handle it, fine. I'm going in to find Elle and Remy. And _you_ ," he barked, unsheathing his claws in Deadpool's direction, "NO doublecrosses or slinking out until you help me find them. Piss me off, and I'll have Domino sic Cable on your sorry ass."

"Yeesh, like I'd do that," Deadpool muttered. "I don't need a reason to kill myself, alright. Some best friend you are..."

"We are _not_ best friends."

"Sure we are. See?" Deadpool whipped out his cell phone, shoving it in Ororo and Rogue's faces. "Here we are on a plane to Lagos. He had a real bad case of motion sickness then..."

Rogue sighed in disgust and shoved him off. "We have to get serious! Now put your cheap Ryan Reynolds photoshop away and get ready to leave. Move it!"

"What do you mean, photoshop? This is really me!" Deadpool sat at the table by himself and pouted, as the rest of them got up and prepared to leave. "You all have no sense of humor."

* * *

A/N: Origins may be the worst of the X-Men movies (actually I take that back, 3 is the worst), but it has its moments. "Okay, people are dead!" being one of them.


	34. Lock and Load

A/N: First I want to say that I am trying my damnedest to get this finished before Logan comes out. Mostly because I don't want anyone to think I copied anything from it. XD I actually have the entire ending (or last act) finished already, all that's left to write are the Alkali Lake parts. That might be maybe two or three more chapters? The word doc so far on my laptop is 67000 words sans notes, and the count without this chapter or any of the chapter notes is 58000 so that tells you how much of a beast this has turned into.

Next I apologize if I haven't been meeting any of your expectations. I've been having some medical issues lately, and while writing is usually a good coping mechanism for me, sometimes I just have to slow down. I will try to make my deadline, but I don't like sacrificing quality. So hopefully that explains any gaps. Thank you for your support. :)

* * *

Logan sat in the copilot's seat as Storm flew the team toward Alkali Lake, and tried to focus on the mission ahead. Land, infiltrate, extract. Personally, he wanted to make as much racket and mayhem as possible, but it was decided that a little stealth went a long way. Every so often he glanced over his shoulder at Deadpool, to make sure he wasn't causing trouble. Right now, the Regenerating Degenerate was fixated on Jean, who was tying back her hair.

"Green and gold with red hair... Woo, you must be the eye candy of your group," he snickered. "I like the outfit, maybe I'll get one for myself."

"You just go ahead and do that," Jean answered, hoping his attention would move elsewhere. It didn't. "...What is it?"

"You're married to Laser Beam, right?" Deadpool snickered. "I know something yoooou don't know..."

Jean narrowed her eyes. "Really. Like what?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing... His father's name is Christopher, isn't it? Nice name for a baby."

Logan smacked his fist against the seat arm, making everyone jump. "Wade, stop jacking around and get ready to fight." The jet began their descent into the mountains, so everyone started preparing for the assault on the compound. While Jean and Rogue prepared the medical supplies, Deadpool pulled a giant bag of guns out of nowhere. "Can't be too prepared," he mumbled to the confused stares.

Upon landing, Storm created extra snow cover while Jean telepathically blocked their presence from any prying eyes. "The old base had an entryway near a copse of trees," Logan said, pointing toward the edge of the forest where some very obviously abandoned structures were located. "He'd be a damned fool to use the same entrance."

"What about down inside the lake, where the dam structure is located?" Rogue suggested. "There must be some way inside, especially if he has choppers. How about we go do some recon, since we can all fly?" Rogue referred to the women of the team, each capable of their own form of flight. Logan and Deadpool agreed, so they split into two.

"We'll check out the old building, just to be sure. Never know what good stuff you'll find in other people's garbage." Deadpool cringed for the beating he thought he was about to get, but Logan only rolled his eyes. The smartass was right, it was a good idea to scope out the old structure for any changes.

The old war buddies made their way to the deteriorated compound, which was seemingly nothing more than crumbled walls and metal debris. Logan poked around some old rusted equipment, and when he lifted a fallen door, he was amazed to find something familiar.

Deadpool poked his head over the unusually quiet Wolverine's shoulder, interrupting the moment. "Wazzat? Looks like a piece of junk."

"...This piece of junk caused me a lot of pain," Logan growled, tossing the dilapidated helmet away. As it hit the ground, it made a strange sound even through the snow cover. Logan heard it and perked up, immediately turning around.

"What?" Deadpool looked around, wondering what had kept Logan from shaking him off. When he realized both of them were staring at a patch of snow, he raised an eyebrow. "...It's snow. Falls from the sky. There's lots of it."

"Yeah, but I pitched the damn thing. Why didn't it sink in?" They both crouched down beside the helmet, as Deadpool tapped the ground with his handgun. It wasn't powdery like the snow, and yet it wasn't slippery or crackled like ice. After feeling more of the area, they discovered a roughly two foot circular patch.

 _"Logan, come in."_ Ororo's voice came over Logan's communicator, interrupting their dig. _"We've found an access point near the dam. Any luck?"_

"Yeah, I think we found a manhole," he answered, as Deadpool uncovered a handhold.

 _"You think it's worth checking out?"_

"More than likely that the one they found is where they're expecting us," Deadpool warned. "You babes better watch it!"

"Storm, you girls wanna make a distraction?" Logan looked at Deadpool with a grin on his face, as Ororo acknowledged. She and Jean always did love getting some action. "We'll take this one, you three go on. Tell Rogue to stay back and pummel any stragglers, you and Jean hit hard with ranged attacks."

 _"Don't be a bossy boots,"_ Ororo joked, then disconnected.

Deadpool withdrew his other gun and pointed both at the hatch in precaution, as Logan cleared the snow and opened it. "...Ladder. Shaft's not lit, no idea how far down it goes."

"You're the boss, Patches. I'm just here to shoot stuff." Deadpool pulled a small glowstick out of his belt. "Here, you apparently don't go to enough raves. We goin' or what?"

Logan snapped the glowstick and started down the tunnel, grumbling as Deadpool starting going on about the best ways to get drunken coeds to take their tops off once you run out of beaded necklaces. "...Don't you ever shut up?"

"I already told you, not while I'm awake!"

* * *

Picking the lock on Remy's cuffs was proving more troublesome than he had anticipated, as they turned out to be electronically controlled, but the crack Sabretooth left during his thrashing was just the gift he needed. It wasn't easy with the blood dripping from his nose distracting him, but after about an hour of effort, the right cuff shorted out and snapped open. Remy quickly grabbed the inhibitor collar and tried to find a place to pry it off, but it was pulsing with enough electricity to knock him on his ass.

" _Merde_... Can't handle that charge on m'own. _Manuellement_ it is."

Remy glanced over at the bars separating the two cells. Sabretooth had rammed him pretty hard against that barrier, and given how ratty this cell was, there was a possibility he had loosened one of them. There were no crossbars, even better. Remy stood and ran a hand along until he felt one that had a little give, and to his delight, was rusted through along the bottom from water leakage.

A swift kick to the base freed one end, and though Remy had the highest regard for Canadians due to his friendship with Logan, this cheap cell used the most subpar materials he had ever seen. It was barely any effort for him to break the bar away from the rusted material, then wrench it out from the girder along the ceiling. After polishing off the rough ends along the floor, he now had a suitable replacement for his staff.

The next step was getting the door open. Remy had tried picking Sabretooth's pockets while receiving his beatdown, but with the handcuffs, he was only able to get into one empty pocket without getting caught. Oh well, there was always the direct approach. He walked over to the door and looked out, only seeing two guards at the end of the hall. So that's why no one came looking when he was making all that racket.

"Hey! _Vous_! Guards! You probably want to come over here!" Remy watched as they rolled their eyes and ignored him, so he yelled again.

"Shut up, mutant!"

"Oh well, Remy thought you'd just want to know that he broke out of these handcuffs," he taunted, sticking his free hand through the little barred window on the door. That seemed to work. The two guards didn't freak out, but came over to see what was going on. Remy hid back out of sight, and as soon as the door opened, used the bar to spring up and knock the first out with a kick to the head. The second moved to shoot, but Remy knocked his legs out from under him before he could aim and cracked him across the chin. He then collected their guns and walked right out of the cell, a big smirk on his face.

* * *

A/N: Deadpool's joke about the uniform is a reference to the numerous times he has hijacked Jean's clothes in the comics. Just search for "deadpool phoenix" and not only will you get a visual you don't need, you'll see Wolvie's reaction as well. And the baby thing? Something I think future movies might gloss over.

Manuellement=manually. Genoshan collars don't turn off combat skills, after all.


	35. Slinking

A/N: Foul language alert for this chapter...

Also, a reminder that this is a spoiler-free story, at least where any new movies are concerned. I haven't been following any news articles, and I believe within the next few days is when Logan is premiering at one of the overseas film festivals. So if you're trying to avoid anything like me, watch what you read. I'll definitely have the story done before the US premier in March, (I'm in the US) so any similarities are unintentional unless it's something from a prior movie or comic.

* * *

Remy slunk down the corridor, keeping an eye out for additional cameras and guards. Only one of the guards had a useful weapon for his escape, a M16 rifle, while the other had a simple Beretta handgun. Forty five rounds in total to start with, and any additional from those he came across. He used the smaller weapon to pick off a few cameras and one hapless guard who came to investigate the noise, but felt as though he was going in circles.

"Remy not worth their time? Only one guard come to stop me?" Remy had stopped to contemplate the seemingly deserted state of the base, when he heard a ruckus up ahead. He ducked behind a nearby supply crate and readied the rifle, training it on the passageway in front of him. As soon as the armed figure approached, he pulled the trigger.

"OW~! MOTHERFUCKING SHIT SPEWING... **COCK GOBBLER!** "

He missed? No he didn't, Remy never missed. He leaned out from behind the crate to find... Deadpool rolling around on the ground, grabbing his head and cursing in agony. Suddenly Logan came running down the hallway, claws out and ready to tear through throngs of guards, until he realized it was only Wade being dramatic.

"Logan!" Remy stumbled out from behind the crate, just as Logan caught him in a bear hug. " _Mon ami_ , am I ever glad to see you. Stryker, he-"

"Yeah, I know," Logan growled, before taking a claw to the Genoshan collar around Remy's neck. He winced from the momentary sting of electricity upon contact, but it was soon a pile of debris on the floor. "Where is she?"

Remy shook his head. "I don't know. We were in a cell together when I woke up, but then he took her away. Been trying to find where since I broke out myself." He then looked over to Deadpool, who had finally sat up off the floor. "I only shot you because I thought you were after me. Nobody been following me since I broke out."

"You're welcome, arsebadger. No one's after you cause the girls are distracting them all," Deadpool explained, poking the new hole between his eyebrows. "You owe me a new hood! Now come on, I have a kitty to chop!"

Deadpool stood and ran down a side corridor, while Logan armed Remy with a few packs of cards he had brought along. Just as he turned to follow, Remy stopped him. "Logan, _mon frère_ , wait. There's something you need to know."

* * *

Stryker stood in his command center, scowling at the surveillance monitors that were still functioning. Remy had taken out several along his escape route, the mutant women encroaching at the dam were manipulating the weather and blocking several outside views, and he suspected the redhead from the eighties that could hide her presence was among the group and had entered the base in hopes of locating the captured children.

"Victor, this is not how I imagined things would proceed." Stryker turned to his mutant associate, and after taking a deep breath, slapped him hard across the face. "You said LeBeau was incapacitated in his cell! If that's true, who took out those cameras?"

"It was probably Wolverine."

"Wolverine, LeBeau, the redhead... **WHY** are you still standing here? Go GET them!" Stryker turned back to the monitors, and yelled for more troops to stop the breech at the dam. Sabretooth didn't need to be told twice, and hurried out of the room. He was still sore about the incident on Bourbon Street, and even though his arm had been reattached, his pride hadn't healed. And he was going to rip all four limbs off both Logan and Remy in revenge.

* * *

Logan stomped down the corridor, fists clenched and blades ready to slash through the first piece of meat in sight. Deadpool had an assault rifle in each arm, while Remy held a few cards and ran a small charge through his improvised staff in preparation. They hadn't made it more than a few hundred feet before a figure leapt out from the shadows at them, knocking Remy over and going for his throat.

Deadpool was the first to notice the attacker as Remy went down, and immediately unloaded a clip on him. "Logan, CAT!"

Logan whipped around in time to see Sabretooth flip back off of Remy, and charge at Deadpool. Deadpool used his empty weapon to block a swipe intended for his face, and kicked at Sabretooth's midsection as a distraction. Sabretooth was prepared, however, and took the kick as a chance to wrench the other rifle out of Deadpool's grip and toss it across the hall. Deadpool was so surprised, he failed to block a hit right in the face.

"I always said you were too scatterbrained to be of any use, Wade," Sabretooth sneered.

Just then, a charged card went off in Sabretooth's eyes as Logan sank his blades into the blond's chest. Remy hung back and avoided engaging further, as Sabretooth had torn a rather large gash in the side of his neck and he was struggling to keep it from worsening. Instead he watched as the Wolverine took over Logan, and his two companions tore into their former acquaintance.

Sabretooth snarled as Logan took a chunk out of his side, and retaliated by throwing him across the hallway. Deadpool jumped in and fought back with his swords, holding Sabretooth at bay due to his superior healing factor. As Logan rose to rejoin the fight, Remy caught his attention by blocking him with his staff.

"Logan, _mon ami_ , you in there? _Le glouton_ needs to go away now, we have to find Elle before somethin gets worse, _d'accord_?" Remy winced as he struggled to hold Logan back with one hand, the other pressed to his neck to stem his bleeding.

The sight of his best friend beaten to hell and the mention of his beloved stirred Logan back to the surface, and he glanced over at the brawl. Deadpool was ripping into Sabretooth for what he did to his own companion, and though Logan wanted to tear Creed to pieces, he knew this wasn't the time.

"He's all yours, Wade," Logan yelled, helping Remy to his feet and taking off down the hall.


	36. The White Devil

A/N: This chapter is primarily from Remy's point of view. It's also a little on the gory side. Good news though, the story is finished! I just have to do some editing, so the remainder will be posted over the next week or so. It's about another 8000 words.

* * *

Logan and Remy ran down the uncovered corridor, leaving Deadpool to deal with Sabretooth. They'd been searching too long already with no success, and were starting to get agitated. The flashing alarm lights that had been going off since they arrived weren't doing much to help Logan's focus, either. Logan and Remy passed several more cells, all unoccupied, but the torture equipment contained within was unsettling and suggested someone had recently vacated them.

"Logan, wait." Remy stopped as they came across a large reinforced door, and peered inside to find a dark control room of some kind. Logan noticed Stryker fleeing down a passageway on one of the monitors and moved to pursue, just as Remy suddenly began shouting.

" _Nom de Dieu_! Logan, look!"

Logan turned his head to the large windows lining the wall behind him, which overlooked some kind of dim operating theater down below. Right in the center, strapped to a table and lit like a grim Halloween display by the room's eerie turquoise glow, was the person they were looking for.

Logan wasted no time, immediately smashing one of the windows with his claws. Sirens began blaring from the breach as he leapt through into the room below, and ran over to cup his wife's cheek. "Elle! Elle, can you hear me?" When she didn't answer, he quickly slashed off the restraints and gently shook her shoulders. "Elle!"

Remy dropped down from the observation room, and ran over with a concerned look on his face. "Logan, dere's something wrong with her arm. Look!" He showed Logan a tablet computer, displaying an x-ray image of an arm strapped to an exam table. There was a large bright spot on one of the bones, and a glance at her arm revealed dark bruising on the corresponding skin. Logan couldn't quite understand what he was looking at, until he saw a cart out of the corner of his eye with a familiar silver syringe dangling off the side.

"No... NO!" Unsheathing one of his claws, Logan moved to cut into Elle's arm, until Remy pulled him back.

"Are you out of your mind?! You can't cut her open! _Bon sang_ , she'll bleed to death!"

"You see that cart behind you? The silver shit in the bottom? That fucker injected it into her arm! If I don't get it out of her, it will kill her. Kill her! Adamantium is poisonous if you don't have a strong enough healing factor to counteract it. She doesn't have anywhere near the capability to survive it and I'll bet that's why he did it!" Logan pushed Remy back and shook his head in apology, then sunk his claw into Elle's arm.

Just as Logan started cutting through Elle's tissue, Jean began talking in his earpiece. _"Logan? Logan, where are you? I've found the children, but now I can't sense your presence anywhere! What happened? Have you found Elle and Remy?"_

"Not now, Jean!" Logan carefully cut down through Elle's arm, using the tablet as a reference. "Shit, I can't see anything..." Logan tried to stay as calm as possible while Remy held Elle's arm open for him, and tapped his claw around until he located the disc. It was stuck tight against the wide bone at her wrist, and even lightly scraping around the edges wouldn't dislodge it.

"FUCK!"

Remy flinched as Logan started spewing filthy language even he wasn't familiar with. "Hey Logan, watch it, you're slipping into Elle's..."

"SHUT UP! You think I don't know that?" Logan's breathing picked up, and he looked over at Elle's face in panic. "God damn it! I can't get it out!"

" _Merde_..." Remy looked at the bloody mess in front of them, at Logan who was a second away from losing it completely, and back to Elle's arm. Muttering a prayer to himself, he shoved Logan out of the way and stuck his fingers inside her muscle. One deep breath later, he found the adamantium and charged it.

There was a sharp crackle, and then the adamantium suddenly burst out of Elle's arm and shot across the room, slicing Logan's forehead in the process. Elle's body lurched up off the table in spasm, before settling back down. Logan hurriedly checked her pulse and breathing, before letting out a deep sigh of his own.

Remy looked at the wound in disbelief, then over to Elle. "Is she okay?"

"She's breathing, but nothing's healing." Logan looked around the room in exasperation. "I need a tube. Find a tube!"

"Tube? For what?"

"It worked before, it will work again!" Logan started tearing the room apart, pausing to rip his earpiece off and with a growl, threw it violently against the wall. Remy stopped wrapping Elle's arm, as a chair flew by and narrowly missed decapitating him.

"LOGAN! What the hell are you doing?! Why did you smash your headset?" He picked up the broken earpiece, but even someone as thrifty as him couldn't repair it. " _Bonne douleur_ , look what you've done. What's gotten into you?"

Ignoring his friend's concern, Logan located the locked cell door and abruptly launched himself into it, knocking it clear off the hinges. He took off his uniform top and wrapped it around Elle, then scooped her up and headed for the door. "We gotta get back to the jet, I can do it there. Come on!"

"Do _what_? Logan! Ah, _mon Dieu_..." Remy hurried after Logan, convinced that the feral had lost his mind. They made it through several hallways, seemingly turning corners at random, when a noise rang out that practically deafened the poor Cajun.

Remy watched as Logan and Elle crumpled to the ground, wincing as another bang echoed through the hallway. The smell of powder sobered him up, and he immediately grabbed a handful of cards to throw.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the shooter cautioned, stepping out of the shadows and pointing his gun straight at Elle's forehead. "This is a .50 AE Desert Eagle. I doubt your little friend would be able to heal if I blew her head off."

"Stryker..."

"And I don't think Wolverine will be waking up any time soon with three rounds in his skull," Stryker snorted, firing point blank into Logan's eye socket. Remy grimaced as flesh and blood went flying, and all the while his sick captor snickered with delight. "You wouldn't believe how many times this worked before."

"You sick _connard_..."

"Whatever nonsense you just grumbled, I can't hear you," he replied, tapping on his earplugs. "Now, let's play a game of 'how many are with you and where are they hiding'. Every lie you feed me is a bullet in one of your friends. From experience, Wolverine tends to take longer to wake up the more holes I fill him with. Too many wrong answers, and your gal pal won't get to have any children."

"You STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Remy lurched forward, but halted when the gun was turned in his direction.

Stryker pulled out one earplug. "Where's the redhead?"

"Hell if I know."

The colonel kept his promise and fired another round, this time into one of Logan's legs. Remy felt like he couldn't hear anything anymore, even with his minor healing ability.

" _Putain!_ You think Remy know everything, locked up in one of your cells dis whole time? Jean can make herself invisible, she be anywhere she want to be. Maybe even _behind you_."

"Huh?" Stryker whipped around, just as Deadpool grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back.

"Hello sir, remember me?" Deadpool threw the gun to the side, then kicked in the back of Stryker's knee and forced him to the ground. As he held Stryker down, Remy ran up and dug his fingers into the side of the man's head.

"Hey Stryker, you want to know a secret?" he whispered in an eerie, dark tone completely free of his normal accent. "Your scientists, they thought they had me figured out, didn't they? Well you know something? They don't call me 'the White Devil' for nothing." Remy's fingertips began to glow, causing Stryker to grimace and shake. A small trickle of blood ran down his nose, and a shriek caught in his throat.

"...This is for what you did to Elle," Remy hissed, as Stryker's head exploded into a mess of charred tissue and bone, just like a charged playing card. Deadpool jumped back in surprise as the corpse hit the floor, and stared at Remy in total disbelief.

"Holy fuck. You can charge _people_?! If you can do that, why are you always paying me off instead of fighting me?"

"Because fighting you is suicide." Remy leaned against the wall to catch his breath. "I can't charge organic matter as well as objects, and it takes a hell of a lot out of me," he explained. "Ugh... we have to get out of here before anyone else shows up. What about Sabretooth?"

"Cut the fucker up like a Christmas turkey, though I have a feeling he'll recover. Bastard always does," Deadpool shook his head. "Though the good news is that your Stormy leader contacted me and said the toy soldier army has been taken care of, and the kids are located. We're good to get back to the jet, now that I found you guys."

Remy stood up, a little winded but steady on his feet. "Then it's finally over... Alright, you get Logan, I should be okay to carry Elle."

Deadpool grumbled under Logan's weight as he slung him over his shoulder, but paused as he saw Remy stagger. "You sure you're good? I can call one of your pals to-"

"No time, we have to get her home for medical attention." Remy wiped off as much blood from his chest and arms as he could, then scooped up Elle and followed Deadpool through the maze of tunnels. Hopefully they weren't too late to save her...

* * *

A/N: Firing a Desert Eagle indoors will deafen you. Remy obviously needs to hear in the story, so I gave him a power based excuse, but please be safe when shooting guns. Firing it outdoors will set car alarms off depending on how close you get to it. Wear your damn earmuffs.

I didn't describe it in the text, but the shot to Logan's eye probably blew half his face off. There are pictures in Wolverine's Civil War TPB that show him regrowing after he's been reduced to a skeleton, and it's pretty nasty. Like reverse Terminator. Point is, gunshots are not neat little holes like the Trask shot in DOFP. This is an M rated story, and Remy pulled a Cronenberg on Stryker.


	37. Afterlife

A/N: New cover image! I really like the previous image (hello buff naked Logan!), but this one is what his in-story uniform looks like. It's actually a picture of Ultimate universe Wolverine.

* * *

As a child I used to dogpile Logan when he came back from wherever he went during the day, usually because I was so happy to have someone paying attention to me in a positive manner. Whenever he sat and listened to the radio I was there, usually curled up on top of him half asleep or fiddling with a coloring book. He never let me sleep in his room, but that didn't stop me from cuddling up to him elsewhere and turning him into a Logan pillow.

A lot of times, I would wake up to Logan absentmindedly fiddling with a strand of my hair. In the beginning, our relationship was kind of awkward, so I guess this was his way of showing affection towards me. It was cute if you thought about it, a big muscly guy chumming up to a little lump who really only ate his food and stole his body heat.

I remember one time, it was right after we found the cabin. I was still coming down from all those diseases I got, and was sleeping all the time. Well, one day I woke up from a bad dream, and went looking for Logan. Only, I couldn't find him. I looked through the whole cabin, and when I got outside and saw that the car was gone too, I panicked. I wandered around in the snow near the cabin for a while before passing out, and when I woke up, Logan was holding me and freaking out, trying to warm me back up. Turns out he had only left to get us more food, and had taped a note to my door explaining where he went. That's how he found out I couldn't read, and how he ended up with a clingy little shadow.

In the middle of this absentminded reminiscing, I started to wonder why I could hear a dull white noise in the back of my mind. I'm dead, I shouldn't be able to hear anything. I put it out of my head, until I felt a light caress against my cheek. And another... I opened my eyes, and the dim room came into focus as the mutton chopped offender played with a strand of my hair.

"Hello, sleepyhead."

Logan?! No, he can't be here, too! He's ten times stronger than those bastards, how could they kill him? Unless... "A...alive?"

Snorting playfully at my question, Logan leaned over and kissed my cheek before pointing to a heart monitor beside the bed. "Now what kind of question is that? I'm not gonna let a greased up scumbucket and his mad scientist boss get the better of me. Remy blew Stryker to bits, and Creed'll be licking his wounds for a month. I got shot up a little, but who cares. You're safe, alive and well. That's all that matters."

Releasing a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding (and a few tears as well), I nuzzled closer to Logan as he smoothed out my hair. When my strength gave out, I really thought I was done for. I didn't remember anything except the awful pain and Stryker's last taunt. So Remy took him out? I started to sit up and ask questions, but had zero energy to do so and plopped back down like a rock. "...I feel like I'm on empty."

"Yeah, that's why you're here in this intensive care room," Logan explained. "Your healing factor is basically overloaded, and Hank thinks you couldn't heal any better than a human with a compromised immune system." He drew my attention to my arm, which was now heavily bandaged. "Remy and I had to do a little unorthodox surgery back at the compound. That bit of adamantium Stryker put in you? It poisoned you so badly, you would have died if it didn't come out right away. Only, I couldn't get it out with my claws alone..."

"How'd you...?"

"Blame Gumbo." Logan ran his fingers along the bandage very carefully. "I couldn't cut it out, it was bonded to your bone and I don't think you can grow back what's completely gone. So Remy out of desperation put a charge into it, which somehow shocked all the adamantium molecules present in your bloodstream and ended up blowing the disc out of your arm. It even cracked me in the head on the way out."

Woah. "You mean he lit me up, the same way he did to you back when you met?"

Logan grimly shook his head in the negative, and the sour expression that came on his face frightened me into next Tuesday. "No... I didn't tell him or even Furball this, but... I actually heard your heart stop while we were trying to pry that thing out of you."

I gasped and squeezed his hand. My heart stopped? Oh no, the baby...!

"I was cursing and yelling like crazy, Remy was even starting to think I had lost control. There was blood all over the place, alarms going off, Jean was screaming in my ear for our location because she couldn't sense us... Remy was wrung out, and charged the metal without thinking. After it flew out of your arm, you spasmed for a second, and then I heard your heart start again. It was almost like the shock started you back up again."

So I did die for a moment there. ...I guess that cements it, then. I wasn't strong enough to protect myself from Stryker's torture, so I must not have been able to protect the new life I was carrying. Miscarriages are so common under normal circumstances as it is, it's not like I stood a chance of coming out of this okay. I probably would've been a terrible mother, anyway. Should I even bother telling him I was pregnant? ...Yeah, I owe him that. "Logan..."

"Charles told me there's a likelihood that you may have some lasting effects from the metal ions being in your system," he interrupted, brushing off my concerned tone with a quick kiss on the cheek. "He scanned your mind and body while you were unconscious, and believes that the combination of the metal implantation, Remy's charging, and your own unique intellect have led to the emergence of a new ability." Logan then produced an oblong white box, and placed it in my hands. "Tell me what's in there without opening it."

"Logan, I need to tell you something," I insisted, sitting the box aside. He merely repositioned me so that the box was back in my hands, repeating this silly game until I threatened to tear the damn thing open just to get it out of the way.

"Just humor me, darlin, please?" Logan made a really adorable puppy dog face, and damn it, I lost. Defeated, I looked at the box. It was small, maybe about the size of a TV remote.

"Am I just supposed to guess?" I started to wonder how I was supposed to know what was in here, when just as I began feeling up the sides of the box, I got a tingle in my fingers. It was stronger in my right hand, so I used that one to brush over the lid. I could sense something, cool and thin like metal. Suddenly I knew what was inside, almost as though I had a clear picture. "There's a spoon in here!" I mumbled in amazement.

Logan smiled and nodded, a rather goofy grin etched on his face. "Go ahead and open it."

"Okay, but how'd I know it was a spoo-" I cut my own sentence short as I opened the box and pulled out, you guessed it, a spoon. But not just a regular spoon, this was a silver baby spoon, with a little bear on the handle, and a pink and a blue ribbon tied around the neck.

"Of course, I don't know if it's a girl or boy yet, so I figured I'd use both now and we'll just take the wrong one off later."

My hands started shaking as I held the cute little spoon. He knows? But surely, after all that happened, my body couldn't possibly have protected...

"Hey." I looked up at Logan, and realized that I had teared up again. He wiped my eyes, then leaned down and held me close. "It's okay... Everything's fine. Hank checked you over as soon as we got back, the baby is still there and growing. See?"

Logan took my unbandaged hand and snaked it down beneath the covers, settling right above my pubic bone. I felt around like he suggested, and to my surprise there was a firm little bump right between the hollow of my hips. "H-how...?"

"You've been asleep for about two months," Logan answered solemnly. "Remy's the one who told me you were pregnant. He said you were looking forward to telling me yourself, but then he worried that something would happen if we didn't get you out of there as soon as possible, so I needed to know. I then told Hank out of necessity, and Charles found out because he's Charles. Oh, and Wade because the rotten bastard was eavesdropping on us."

Logan's groan after the last one made me giggle a little, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "I don't care who else knows," I clarified, "least of all Wade. I... I cared about how _you_ would react when you found out. You always made it sound like you didn't want any kids..."

"Darlin..." Logan frowned, before leaning back in his chair and scratching his chin. "I said that? Ah hell, we live in a school surrounded by kids, they're not that bothersome to me. If I had known you wanted children sooner, we'd have two or three by now."

"You mean it?! You're not angry?"

"Angry? Psht." Logan bore a wicked toothy grin. "Our baby is gonna be the first born in the mansion, and will be ten times cuter than any demon spawn One Eye might produce. I feel sorry for Jean, she might've had nice kids with someone else, but it doesn't matter because our baby will inherit all your good looks and blow everyone else out of the water."

Logan certainly has his priorities straight, I thought as I laughed to myself. "The metal in my blood didn't hurt the baby?"

"Nope. Hank says that through a miraculous combination of X-Genes, the baby inherited both my potent healing factor and your early mutation expression. Anything that made it through the placental barriers into the baby's tissue was immediately filtered out. You should feel proud of yourself Elle, your genes kept the baby safe from harm." Logan then snickered. "It seems that you and I ended up perfecting that sick bastard's experiment without even trying."

I turned my head in disgust at Logan's joke, and he seemed to take the hint. "Sorry. Hank didn't run any further tests on the baby, only a small fluid sample to make sure it was okay and there weren't any abnormalities. We'll have to wait until birth or possibly puberty to find out if there are any other mutations, but he did say we can find out the baby's sex soon if you like?"

Snort, I don't care about that, I just want a healthy baby. "Does it matter?"

"No, not really..." Logan shrugged, then rubbed at my miniscule baby bump. "Can't deny that a boy might be fun, but then again I already have a little experience taking care of a girl. No dirty books, right?"

"Right," I answered as he tickled my sides.

* * *

"Logan..."

"Ngh..."

"LOGAN!"

"Okay, I'm up... Why are the sheets wet?"

I was three seconds away from grabbing the lamp and smashing it over his head. "Why do you THINK the sheets are wet?"

"Did you spill something?"

" ** _NO!_** AUGHH!"

By now Logan was awake enough to turn his own lamp on, and had realized that a wet bed, an angry and shouting wife, and all this occurring at 3 in the morning probably only meant one thing. "Oh shit!" He jumped out of bed and made himself decent (decent in the Dictionary of Logan was defined as 'half zipped cutoff shorts that were laying beside the bed'), before picking me up and kicking the door open.

"You're gonna wake the whole damn house at this rate," I grumbled between two rather strong contractions, as Logan ran down the steps and onto the second floor. Stopping in front of Hank's door, Logan once more started kicking.

"BLUE! Get your furry ass out of bed, and get downstairs on the double! MOVE IT!"

I heard a few faint curses, very un-Hank like, before the door opened to a very annoyed Beast. "...Logan. This is the fourth time this week you've done this. I've told you before, Braxton Hicks contractions are not-"

"Hank," I interrupted him, since this time was my fault. "I woke up to ruptured membranes and I'm getting contractions every few minutes..."

As soon as I said 'ruptured membranes' (the fancy term for broken water), Hank's eyes turned to saucers. "Well, that's certainly different! Logan, take her downstairs. I'll be right there. Jean? Jean, are you listening?"

 _I am now, is it for real this time? I'll be right there._

Logan had succeeded in making enough ruckus, so by the time I had gotten to the actual pushing stage, Remy, Jubilee, and Rogue were already hovering outside in the hallway waiting for news. It took me ten bloody, painful hours but I got through it, and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that we named Lilly. Logan joked about using his claws to cut the umbilical cord, but Hank threw a fit and insisted that he use sterile scissors. (He still hasn't forgotten about that blood transfusion. He'd kill Logan if he found out he was going to do another one back at the lake.)

Lilly has Logan's hair and eyes, and even though all babies are born with blue eyes, I have a feeling hers will stay that way. Remy insists she looks like me, even though they all really look alike in the beginning. Logan's reveling in all the attention the men are giving him; I didn't realize fatherhood was such a grand rite of passage. Funny thing is that he could very well have already been a father, given how long he's lived (but I like to think not). I know Logan would have liked a boy, but at least this way he doesn't have to keep his 'promise' to name the baby after Wade. (Apparently that was the price for saving us? I don't know.)

Logan makes the occasional breast joke when I'm feeding Lilly, since she took what he thinks was his, so of course I make a rather perfect Tale of Genji joke back at him. I think parenthood is going to be a nice adventure for the two of us, especially since we don't have to worry about doing it on our own. Remy's chomping at the bit to help out, and the Professor is like a parent to all of us and can guide us when we're unsure. I think the future is going to be quite exciting for our little family.

* * *

A/N: It's sort of a running gag that Elle thinks she's dead after every incident. I guess she has no faith in her own powers. :/ If you don't get that Genji joke, Deadpool actually gave you a hint several chapters ago about how to find the meaning. I included the last segment because several people wondered why I didn't include a similar scene in The Baby with the Blue Eyes. If you haven't read that one by now, you better do so.

This is a nice, happy ending for our new family, wouldn't you say? :D But what's this? There's one more movie we haven't covered... D:


	38. Devastation

A/N: Here it is, the most dramatic, the most confusing, the longest chapter, and quite frankly, the whole reason I wrote this damn story in the first place. Logan's big chapter. I can't split this one up without turning it into a mess, so you'll just have to have it in one go. Enjoy!

* * *

Logan blearily opened his eyes, his mind hazy from a massive headache. He did a mini double-take when he saw the sun shining through the curtains; the sun doesn't normally break through the smog cover. And when the hell did he get curtains? Or a window for that matter? The bunker shouldn't have...

A radio playing in the background caught his attention, and he rolled over (a squishy bed? what sorcery is this?) to see the unit sitting on an end table. The Roberta Flack song currently playing gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, and he looked around to see if anything was off. There was an overflowing bookshelf next to the bed, not exactly his style, though the Japanese sword display in the corner certainly was.

Deciding what the hell, Logan got up and opened the door. He got a bit of a shock as a school bell went off, and children started scrambling for class. Looking down the hall he spotted his first familiar face, Bobby Drake, who looked a lot less hardened than the Resistance leader he was used to. A second surprise then entered the hall, Rogue, who last he heard was captured and tortured by the sentinel's masters. Is he... back at the mansion?

After a moment of processing, Logan wandered down the hall to see what else was part of this strange dream. He passed a class taught by Kitty and Colossus, a pair he never thought he'd see together. The next surprise was his old friend Beast, who chuckled at him for sleeping in! The last time he saw him was right before the protesters had dragged him from his home and beaten him to death. He even saw Storm in a suit acting like a principal!

When he arrived at the first floor, Logan's mind was already starting to go. That was when he glanced toward Professor Xavier's office, and noticed a redheaded woman leaning in the doorway. Could it be?

Turning around, Jean noticed her stalker and smiled. "Hi Logan, did the coffee run out?"

Dumbstruck, Logan walked up to the door and mumbled. "You're here..."

"Yeah... am I supposed to be somewhere else?"

Yeah, dead. Logan started to raise his arm as if to touch her, when another quickly grabbed it. "Hey _bub_ , look but don't touch." Stepping out from behind the other door, the old pain in the ass named Scott shook his head.

"...I'm glad to see you too, Scott." Logan patted Scott's shoulder, equally shocked that he was alive as well. Scott rolled his eyes and hurried to class, with Jean moving to follow.

"You okay, Logan?" she asked, tilting her head, though Logan simply smirked.

"Yeah, I'm good."

With Jean and Scott gone, Logan turned to the office. Right where he was expecting, the Professor sat behind his desk fiddling with his paperwork. "You did it."

"Did what?" Charles asked flatly, not even bothering to look up from his papers. "Logan, don't you have a class to teach?"

Logan's face curled, as though he couldn't believe him. "A class... to... teach."

Charles sighed, and looked up. "Yes, history."

"History..." Logan chuckled at the irony. "Actually, I could-"

"DAD!"

Logan froze dead in his tracks. That voice, he knew that voice. The last time he heard it was six years ago when the sentinels took her away from him. Logan whipped around, and came nearly face to face with a raven haired, cobalt eyed, sly grinning teenager. "Lilly..."

"If you don't come to class soon, you're never gonna be able to get anything done. By the time you get everyone else to shut up, it'll be over!" Lilly tilted her head and rocked back and forth, waiting for a response. "What's wrong, no coffee?"

"Uh... no, kiddo, that's not it. I, um..." Logan started to reach for her, when suddenly a screaming infant was shoved into his arms, and a brown haired blur brushed past him and collapsed onto the Professor's couch. "Wha..."

"Here you try, she's been crying for three hours straight and I can't get her to stop."

Logan looked at the screaming baby in his arms, before turning to the newest arrival at little party in the Professor's office. As soon as he saw who it was, he fumbled his grip on the child but luckily Lilly dove forward and grabbed her from her father's arms.

"Elle?!" Logan still remembered the battle where he lost her like it was yesterday; in fact it took both the Professor and Magneto to stop him from going on a reckless suicide mission out of revenge. She died protecting Jubilee and an eight year old Lilly from those sentinel bastards, buying her daughter another year. The memory still haunted him.

"Logan? Logan, is everything alright? You didn't have a nightmare, did you?" Elle stood from the Professor's couch and came over to rub Logan's forehead. "I'm sorry, I spent most of the night in the kitchen with the baby so she wouldn't wake you... I really think she has colic, I can't figure out what else it might be. I guess she doesn't have a healing factor yet."

Standing there dumbstruck, Logan slowly turned from Elle, to Lilly and the baby, finally to the Professor who had a small smile on his face. When he turned back to Elle, her concern had become outright worry, and she vocalized it. "Are you okay? What's going on?!"

"Oh, nothing," he mumbled, taking her hand and kissing the back of her palm. "I'm just still amazed we've got a second kid, that's all."

"Logan, we have _three_ children!" Elle corrected, pulling her hand back and looking from Logan to the Professor in horror. Lilly had managed to get the baby to quiet down a little, but now she resumed her wailing after her mother raised her voice.

Disoriented, Logan scratched his head. "Three?"

" _Yes!_ " Tears began pooling in Elle's eyes, as she pointed to their daughters by the door. "Fifteen year old Lilly, three week old Kanani, and your eight year old son Akira!"

Logan stumbled backwards, just barely falling into chair by the door. "S-son? I have a son?"

"Yeah, and the two of you are practically joined at the hip," Lilly mumbled. "Especially since that fight he got into last week with Warren."

"Lilly, now is not the time," Charles scolded, drawing everyone's attention his way. "I believe an explanation is due, in order for everyone to make sense of the situation..."

"Damn right!" Elle interjected, causing both Logan and Lilly to flinch. Neither were used to seeing the normally reserved wife and mother act such a way in front of the Professor. "What happened to Logan? Why doesn't he remember our family?"

"...Is somethin wrong wit Logan?" The whole group turned around, startled to find they had a new participant in the conversation. Logan stood from his chair, and in a completely uncharacteristic show of emotion, grabbed him in a bear hug.

"... _D'accord_ , now Remy know somfin wrong. LEGGO!" The Cajun eavesdropper wriggled out of Logan's grasp, and took a look around the room. "Professor called me to come get Nani. Walked past what was supposed to be Logan's classroom, _bonne chance_ with that crowd, _mon ami_. So, what's goin on?"

"You and Lilly were in the same safehouse," Logan mumbled, easing his grip on Remy's arms. "I didn't realize how dear of a friend you were until you were gone."

Remy raised an eyebrow, and looked to the Professor for clarification. The Professor nodded, so he ran with it. "Yeah, well, _je t'aime aussi_ , Logan." Remy then took Kanani from Lilly and left, figuring he'd be filled in later. If Logan was finally losing his mind, he wanted no part of it. He already had a baby boy to look after, and didn't need another one.

Once the door was shut and everyone seated, the Professor got down to business. "Elle, Lilly, you have nothing to be afraid of. I believe I know what has happened. It's going to sound very strange, but bear with me." Turning to Logan, he asked, "Logan, what was the year when you went to sleep yesterday? Right before you woke up?"

It took Logan a moment to understand what the Professor was asking, but he finally understood. "...1973."

Elle and Lilly looked at each other, confused. "But, he was here last night," Elle countered. "He and Scott even went on a mission together."

The Professor nodded. "Lilly, what historical event happened in 1973?"

She thought for a minute, before answering, " _Roe v Wade_ , the end of US involvement in the Vietnam war, the first mobile phone call, and the televised reveal of mutants to the world."

"You've paid attention in history class, good," Charles complimented her. "I'll bet though that your wonderful teacher didn't tell you two of those events are related." This time his focus turned to Logan. "Or that he had a hand in both of them?"

"What?!" Elle once again interjected, but this time with a little ammo. "Professor, I think I know what you're getting at, I've heard this before. Raven, right? Logan turned her down, he had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on the President. Now, I don't know how she tricked Magneto, but-"

"Darlin, I was there."

Elle stopped midsentence, and stared at Logan. "What?"

"Mystique, she screwed up the future," Logan explained. "I had to help them stop her, or else everyone would die. You, the students, Remy, everyone but the worst humans. She killed the guy who invented the sentinels, and we had to make sure that didn't happen."

Lilly tilted her head. "You mean Bolivar Trask, right? I know who that is, he died in a prison years ago. Nobody murdered him, he got arrested for selling government information."

"If you know who Trask is, then you know what the sentinels were," Charles began. "In our time, sentinels are nothing more than the robots you all smash up in the Danger Room. But in the timeline where Trask is assassinated at the Paris Peace Accords by Mystique, sentinels are highly dangerous devices capable of adapting to any mutant power. I will spare you the details, suffice to say that after Trask's death, the project was overseen by a certain Colonel Stryker."

Elle reflexively grabbed at the coffee table next to her, sending a vase crashing to the floor. She didn't want to hear about that bottom feeder ever again. "Paris Peace Accords, 1973..." Elle closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke as if reciting from memory. "'The last time I saw Raven was in the fall of '72. I remember because I had just got out of Vietnam. After that, when the new year turned, I don't remember nothin' until I picked you out of the snow.' Please tell me you weren't lying to me, Logan."

"He wasn't lying," Charles interrupted, before anything catastrophic happened. Elle had her glassy doe eyes fixed on Logan's, and it was obvious he didn't remember saying that. "If you will allow me to finish, I can clear up this and probably several other mysteries you've had over the years."

"Please do, I'd like Dad to be around for a few more birthdays."

"Time travel isn't exactly a mutant power that we have at our disposal," Charles explained. "The closest we had was Kitty's ability to phase through objects. Since she developed the ability to phase through time, she could send the consciousness of a person in the present into their body of the past. The only problem was that it was a very dangerous process, and took a very strong mind to survive the trip. Logan was the only one who could do it."

Elle furrowed her brow. "What happened to Logan in 1973, if you sent him back there?"

"Kitty in this era hasn't been through the stress that caused her to develop the same way, so I couldn't analyze her powers, but from what I could gather it works like a timeshare," Charles supposed. "While Logan was in the past, his future mind 'paused' his past mind. As soon as he left, his past mind should have woken back up and taken over, without having realized that he was ever there. At most, he should have only lost a month."

"We didn't meet until 1983, Professor," Elle reminded him. "That's more than a month."

"What's the last thing you remember, Dad?" Lilly asked. "That might give us a clue."

"...Drowning." Logan frowned, remembering how Magneto got the upper hand in the South Lawn battle.

Elle stood from her chair and paced around the room, unsettled. Drowning was so far the only known way to kill him. Did he... Is that why he doesn't remember anything? A tapping stole her attention, and she turned to see that Lilly had resorted to her usual bad habit of tapping one of her claws on the chair leg while trying to concentrate. Then it hit her. "That motherfucking son of a bitch!"

"Mom!"

"Elle?" The Professor reached out to her, but from the look on her and Logan's faces, it was obvious who she was referring to. "I see, that would make sense. When Logan came to save us, he did not have his metal claws. When next I saw you, that day I came to Canada to help the two of you at your cabin, they were metal."

"...Great, another thing that bastard screwed up about my life," Logan grumbled.

"No more talk of him," Elle shushed. "So what happened to my Logan, then? Why doesn't he remember the last forty years we've spent together?"

"I... I remember them, just..." Logan looked at Lilly, then towards the doorway.

"When Lilly was born, how did that go? Tell me," Elle asked, on the verge of further tears. She knew Logan better than anyone, especially enough to know when he was bluffing.

"You know I wasn't here for that, Remy helped you." Logan blurted out his answer without even thinking, so when he turned back and saw the horrified look on both girls' faces, he realized his mistake. "Uhh..."

"You _weren't here_ for the birth of your first child?!" Elle's eyes were wide, tears falling and lip trembling. "First you say Akira and Kanani don't exist, now you didn't even see Lilly's birth? H-how did we meet? Tell me that's still the same!"

Logan held Elle's hands as she stood in front of him, waiting for the answer that he was pretty sure he couldn't give her. Earlier she said he 'plucked her out of the snow' in 1983, and the Professor said they had a cabin. When did he have a cabin? What was he doing in 1983... Oh, he remembered now, the island. Both of them were there, come to think about it. "In 1983 I was at Three Mile Island, with you and Remy. It wasn't snowing, I don't think..."

That did it. Elle's legs gave out, and Logan caught her as she collapsed into a sobbing heap. Lilly jumped out of her chair, and tried to comfort her. "Mom, mom! Calm down, it's okay! He didn't forget everything, just, he had to go back when he finished his mission, and since he stopped Mystique, this was the only future he could return to. Right, Professor?"

"Lilly's simplification is correct; in changing the past, Logan is the only one that remembers the 'bad future' of the sentinels. Regrettably, our survival came with the unfortunate cost of sacrificing the memories of this era's Logan." Charles sighed. "A tough choice, I'm afraid."

"Can't you..." Lilly waved her hands around, looking for the right word. "'Fix' him? Are the old memories still in there somewhere?"

"Now that Logan's woken up, no, I'm afraid this reality has settled," Charles answered, as a knock came at the door. "Lilly, will you get that?"

"We're kinda busy right now, but fine." Lilly moved from her mother's side and opened the door, and was surprised to see Jean, standing alongside a dark haired, gray eyed little boy. "Oh, hi Dr. Grey. What'd he do now?"

Simply smiling, Jean led the little boy into the Professor's office, where he immediately balked upon seeing Elle in distress. "HEY! Dr. Grey, Professor, what gives? What'd you do to my Mom? I told you I only hit Warren because he called me a mongrel for having black fingernails. How was I supposed to know my claws would pick right then to come out? You can't expel me for that! Don't let his dad's money boss you aro-"

"We're not going to expel you, Akira," Jean assured him, clamping her hand over his mouth. "I brought you here because I want you to show everyone your pendant."

When Jean let go of Akira's mouth, he shrugged and pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. Hanging from it was a small wooden pendant in the shape of a totem pole. "Okay, whatever gets me out of class. Dunno why you asked me to do that, though, you know Dad's the one that carved it, Mom made it into a necklace, and Lil yells at me for wearing it nonstop. Both you guys read minds, don't you?"

Jean glanced at the Professor, earning confused looks all around. "Should I explain, or do you want to?"

The Professor motioned for Jean to help Elle onto the couch, because Logan's attention had veered elsewhere. He was currently fixated on the little boy with the scruffy hair, which was a rather obvious mohawk haphazardly combed to the sides so someone like Jean or Storm wouldn't yell at him for being disruptive in class. Even better, he had enough guts to sass the school's most powerful mutants. No doubt who he belonged to.

As Jean and Lilly helped Elle, Logan waggled for Akira to come closer. After fixing that ridiculous hair back in line, he knelt down to the boy's eye level. "...You really taught those smug Worthingtons a lesson, huh."

"Yeah, he's still cryin' about his precious nose."

"Let me see 'em." Logan pointed to Akira's hand. "...If you can," he added, remembering his Lilly's trouble at the beginning. Akira shrugged and stuck out his fist, bringing forth his own new claws. Logan tried to hide his awe as the boy cut three sharp black bone claws- two on the top of his palm, and one on the underside of his wrist.

"If the two of you are finished bonding, I'm ready to continue," Charles prodded, enjoying the father-son moment but eager to set the record straight. Akira nodded and settled in beside his mother, so the Professor revealed why he had called for Jean. "Shortly after we recovered from the Apocalypse Incident, Jean approached me to discuss what happened. I had been taken by the enemy, and the mansion destroyed in the accident that killed Scott's brother. Soon after, _he_ showed up and took a number of the survivors to Alkali Lake."

Logan growled, knowing exactly who. "Did I kill him in this life? Please tell me I did."

"I know the next bit," Elle mumbled, pulling her children close. "Jean let Logan out of his cage, and he killed almost everyone he ran into."

"Alright, Dad!" cheered Akira, quieting after a bonk from Lilly.

"What you may not know is that when I read his mind to free him of his programming, I accidentally found the gap left by _this_ Logan," Jean revealed, motioning to the skeptical Canuck. "It was the strangest thing. There was a period of nothingness, a short hiccup, then the nothingness again. At first I thought it was something I did, so I made a point to discuss it with the Professor. Then we figured out what it really was."

"Hank and I had decided we would discuss our knowledge of the bad future with no one, not even you, Logan," Charles continued. "When Jean came to me with what she found, I decided to fill her in, to get her insight. It was fascinating that your brain had those holes there, and it got us thinking about what would happen when you eventually woke up. The hiccup she mentioned was probably from a small incident where the future Kitty lost control, and the past Logan surfaced. It happened when we encountered someone that future Logan recognized, who I now know was Stryker. When Kitty got control again, past Logan disappeared, almost as if he was never there, hence the blank spaces in your mind."

"The Logan of the past ceased to exist while Logan of the future was using his body," Jean simplified, "so the most obvious conclusion was that the Logan of the good future would cease to exist when Logan of the bad future returned."

"Logan, you had me look into your head when we were searching for Raven," Charles recollected. "I saw what you went through, what you lost. And I admit, I used that information to shape this future into something less catastrophic."

Elle sat up from her slump. "...You're the one that kept Stryker from accessing Magneto!"

Charles returned Elle's aha with a wink. "But in addition to the bad, I've also seen what you've built in this life. So I wanted to make sure you had the option of choosing which future to call your own. You'll have to forgive my and Jean's deception, of course, but along with the treatment for your nightmares, we've been secretly 'backing up' your memories onto Akira's little totem pole pendant."

Elle gasped, and grabbed the pendant. "...I am picking up faint traces of metal," she said, turning it around and feeling it over. "There, I think there's a circuit board inside!"

"I'm sorry, I snuck it into the pendant shortly after it was clear he wasn't going to part with it," Jean admitted. "The last scan we got was a week ago, shortly after the big fight. Kanani's birth is in there, too, don't worry. We knew the time was coming for you to return, Logan, but you hadn't had a nightmare in so long and it wasn't like we could just ask you to come down and sit still..."

Logan frowned. "I take it that he wasn't a fan of people messing in his head, either?"

"I used the excuse that the blocks I put in place to stop your nightmares periodically wore off," Charles explained, "as a result of your healing factor. Normally a quarterly treatment sufficed, but this year I switched to monthly. My bluff was that impending fatherhood put you into overdrive. Besides, I had a feeling number three would cut it pretty close."

"So my Logan is inside here?" Elle interrupted, holding up the pendant. "Can you put him back? Will it work?"

"...That all depends," Charles answered. "Like I said, it's a tough choice, and Logan has to decide if it's what he wants. After all, a lot of people gave their lives to give us this reality, and he is the only one who remembers their sacrifice."

Logan stared at the ground in thought, then glanced back toward Elle. He was getting a very strong attachment vibe from her, even stronger than he was used to. The two of them were close of course in his own time, but they'd had some rough spots. Plus, he couldn't ever remember Elle being so clingy, even after they made up. Not to mention how devastated she looked right now... But could he really just give up his life for one he didn't know?

"...Dad? You still there?" Akira broke the silence, though he didn't quite know what was going on. "Or is this one of those 'true love' moments where you talk without talking?"

"I... I think I need some time to process all this," Logan mumbled, startling everyone by marching straight out of the office. It hurt, but he tried to ignore the sound of Elle's weeping as he continued out of the mansion.


	39. I Hate The Cold

It wasn't my plan to spend the rest of the day in the med lab, but shortly after that _debacle_ , Akira smelled blood (his new senses are really sharp) and then I had some nasty cramping. Hank said my normal postpartum discharge had too much blood in it, and that the stress of the events brought on the symptoms. Even for someone with a bit of a healing factor like me, eighteen days after giving birth was too soon to be up running around.

I'm in shock, I suppose. Of all the ways I thought I might lose him, this isn't one of them. I asked Hank if he mentioned us in the past... Hank didn't remember Logan dropping any names, but he did occasionally stop and stare at Lilly's door. Great. Why couldn't this be the kind of time travel where nobody remembers what happened at the end?

Kanani didn't cry too much that night, though I could tell she wanted her father. Naturally I didn't know where he was, neither did Lilly or Remy. Remy of course had no clue what was going on, only that Logan left and he was going to 'beat the shit out of him' for it. I had no will to explain what happened, so Lilly gave it a shot. The moment he heard 'Stryker', it turned into ten minutes of French curses, so I detached myself from the conversation and went to bed. I was too drained to be of use, anyway.

I was cold all night, but most likely from my dreams. I was back in the snow, waiting for Logan to come get me. I waited forever, but no one ever came. At one point I even got up and went back into the facility looking for him, and tiptoed over the bodies of all the dead guards until I found the hallway where I first saw him. He wasn't there. I hiked through the Canadian wilderness until I reached our cabin, and still, nothing. The worst part, I could feel all the things he saved me from lurking over my shoulder- frostbite, illness, Creed- but he never came to send them away. I truly was alone.

Realizing I was awake when a tear rolled down my cheek, I kept my eyes closed for a few more moments since Kanani wasn't up and fussing. That's when I felt someone brushing the hair out of my eyes.

"It's usually my job to get the nightmares."

There he was, sitting on the edge of the bed looking into Kanani's bassinet. "She looks just like you when you're asleep. Guess third time's the charm, seein' as how the other two are both black haired and blue eyed."

Akira's eyes are gray, but I get his point. I started to sit up, when the state of the bedroom stopped me. Teddy bears. Teddy bears EVERYWHERE. Almost like when...

"I'd have gotten you the giant one and your little wolverine, too, but you gave those to Lilly, remember? Akira even steals the big bear for a punching bag sometimes. Heh, guess he won't be doing that anymore, will he? She'll be mad if it has claw holes in it."

I sat there with my lip quivering, until finally I grabbed him and started sobbing into his shoulder. "Don't you EVER scare me like that again! You're not allowed to leave me until I'm good and done with you!"

"...And when will that be?"

" ** _NEVER!_** " I went back to soaking his shoulder, and of course my screaming woke Kanani and probably the rest of the floor. I don't care how selfish it makes me look, I wanted my Logan back and to hell with the other future. How was I gonna explain to Akira that his idol was replaced with one who never knew him? Would that Logan have even wanted a wife and children that weren't technically his? Yes, those other X-Men gave their lives for ours, and I'm thankful for that, but my children are here _now_. I have to look out for them.

When I realized that Kanani was no longer crying, I looked up and saw that Logan had scooped her up and got her back to sleep against his other shoulder. "You deep in thought again? I got this if you want to go back to sleep. Charles took me off the class schedule for a while, said I needed 'family time'. I guess Jean or Hank is covering. Sneaky bastards deserve a little punishment, I'd say."

Damn right. ...Guess the elephant in the room needs to be addressed sooner or later. "What made you decide to go ahead and switch back?"

Logan laid Kanani back in her bassinet, then turned so we were facing one another and started caressing my cheek. "...I did it because you were crying. I promised after I ran you through that night when you were sixteen that I'd do my damnedest never to make you cry again. Apparently, something similar happened in his timeline, and he was equally touched. Charles told me the two of us went through a lot of pain in that life, and that might have been part of it too."

"Might have been?" I'm confused.

"Yeah, I don't really remember what all was going through his head," Logan admitted. "The way it worked, I got all the past memories up until Magneto chucked me in the river, then everything from meeting you to arguing with One Eye over why I should care that the rich twerp needs a new nose. That was last week, right? I don't remember the conversation we all had with Chuck yesterday neither, only that I said yes. But when I woke up this morning in the med bay, I knew that I fucked up real bad and had to fix it. Plus Remy caught me downstairs earlier, and tried to kick the shit out of me for it. Good thing Jean was up and convinced him to stop, or I'd be toast. When I screw up, you guys never let me forget."

And you really make up for it, don't you? I'm not even going to bother asking where all these bears came from. "I think you've fixed your mistakes," I cooed, wrapping my arms around his neck and helping myself. He took the hint, leaning into the kiss and pressing his hand into my back.

"Mmm... how long do we have to wait after childbirth, again?" The hand on my back started creeping lower and lower, until it finally found the edge of my nightgown.

"Logan! Stop that!" My face flushed, and I quickly swatted him away. "Six weeks, six weeks at least! Though with you, it's probably closer to three months... Just because I heal faster than a human, doesn't mean childbirth is instant recovery. And don't go thinking pumping your blood into me will make it go any faster, I know how your mind works. I've been with you for forty years, after all!"

That got a genuine smile out of him. "No, I wouldn't fool around with another foolhardy transfusion. Aside from incurring Beast's furry wrath, that was the first time I really kissed you, wasn't it? Don't want to mess with those memories."

There was nothing I could say to top that, so I answered with the sweetest kiss I could muster. Logan wasn't always the most open with his feelings, so knowing that he cared so much about our milestones meant the world to me. "...Do you remember that time I caught all those diseases at once?"

Logan raised an eyebrow, perplexed as to why I would bring up such an old incident. "Hell yeah I remember that, it was the second time I held your tiny little body in my arms while you were knocking on death's door. Except instead of freezing, you were burning up. Scared the shit out of me. Why we talking about that?"

"After I got better, I was really clingy for a while, wasn't I?" I chuckled, remembering how I followed Logan everywhere. "Well you know, the clinginess never went away, I just learned how to be a little more subtle. Every now and then, though, subtlety goes out the window."

"Oh, you've never been subtle in the 'Logan is mine' department," he joked.

"Let me finish!" Yanking on his ears ended his snickering, and I could continue. "I'm trying to say that I don't see us as just Ogami Itto and his baby anymore. You may have been that lone wolf who sought revenge in the beginning, but now we're a pack. You and I are stuck together, I go where you go. Plus, we've got three lovely babies who make us whole. And as unorthodox as it is, I rather like your unique style of parenting. So keep all this in mind next time you decide to be heroic. Don't leave me, Logan."

Logan nodded, brandishing a warm smile on his face. "You've got my word, darlin."

"Good." I returned the smile as I laid back down. "Now come here and warm me up. You know I hate the cold."

* * *

A/N: The end! :D I have a short epilogue to go with the story, and will write a small afterword bringing us to a nice even 40 chapters. You'll get that on Thursday.


	40. Epilogue

_Xavier's School for the Gifted Annual Holiday Party, sixteen years later_

"Come on Lilly, one kiss!"

"No."

"Pleeeeease? I'll even keep the mask on!"

Lilly rolled her eyes and shoved away from her red suited admirer, though that did her very little good.

"I may look bad on the outside, but I'm really sweet on the inside. The Freddy Krueger look is only skin deep, honest!" Deadpool's mistletoe antics managed to attract an audience among the crowd gathered for Xavier's annual holiday party, and one spectator in particular wasn't amused. He walked right up to Deadpool and slammed him against the wall, his fist pressed against his chin.

"If she told you 'No' Deadpool, that means _no_. Leave my sister alone or I'm gonna bury these in your neck." For a little extra emphasis, Akira extended his middle claw until it poked Deadpool right in the nose.

Deadpool chuckled and patted Akira's shoulders. "Hey, hey, take it easy big guy! Just a little Christmas fun, is all. Don't need to be the boyfriend police." Just then, Jean and her daughter Rachael walked by, and he wolf whistled in Rachael's direction. That got him slammed back into the wall _and_ a punch in the face.

"Mai nwos! Okay, I get it, down Daken!"

"You stay AWAY from Rachael!" Akira hissed, dumping Deadpool to the floor. "...And my name isn't Daken."

"Yeah right," Deadpool mumbled as he rubbed his tail.

"There's quite the bit of activity going on over there," Jean said as she sat on the far couch next to Elle. "You sure you shouldn't go investigate?"

"I'm more concerned with the activity going on over here," Elle replied, bouncing one year old daughter Emmy on her leg while discreetly pointing to a young couple across the room.

"Ah, I see what you mean. Do their fathers know?"

"Logan would have to, but I'm not sure about his."

"Well, considering how Logan didn't seem to mind Akira and Rachael's relationship, I doubt he'll mind Kanani and Etienne's relationship."

"It's not the relationship I'm worried about," Elle reassured her.

Elle still remembered the day they found Etienne at the gates of the mansion, about a year before she got pregnant with Kanani. Rogue came running into the common area looking white as a ghost with this basket, and inside was a little brown haired replica of Remy. 'Keep your monster baby' the note said, sending Remy into a rage. If he had known he got a girl pregnant, he would have been responsible and taken care of her. Instead, this mystery woman just abandoned a poor baby outside in the elements, when his father was more than willing to take care of him.

"Is it hypocritical of me to say they're too young for that?" Elle asked Jean, as she spied Etienne giving Kanani a cute kiss on the lips.

"Maybe. Then again, his father _is_ Remy LeBeau. He probably knows way more than you did at that age."

"You'd be surprised."

A crash behind them caught their attention, and the girls turned around to find Rogue holding a very angry Jubilee back, while Deadpool laid on the floor with a punchbowl smashed over his head.

"Keep your hands to yourself, creep, or I'll blow them off!"

"Jubilee, easy, he's not worth it! Think of Shogo!"

Elle turned back and focused on her infant. "Whose idea was it to invite him anyway?"

"I assumed it was Logan's," Jean mumbled. "That or he just showed up for the free food."

"Hmm..."

Out on the veranda, the glow of a lighter flashed as Remy lit up a cigarette. "You know _mon frère_ , Remy think we missin a lot a activity in dere."

Logan held out his cigar for a light, as he grabbed another beer from the case between them. "How so?"

"Dat sound an awful lot like a glass breakin, it did."

"Actually, Jubes smashed something over Wade's head."

" _Dieu_ , you hearin dat well out 'ere?"

"Nah, but I heard her yell, and I can hear Elle and Jean talking so it's gotta be Wade." Logan chuckled. "I heard him hitting on Lil, too, but Akira put a stop to that."

"He shoulda let Lilly do it 'erself," Remy mused. "She'd skewer im good."

"Don't give him any ideas, he'd probably like it."

The two continued conversing over their case of beer, until Elle joined them a little while later. "You two have been missing quite the show, for your little quiet time out here..."

" _Non, ma chère_ , we been listening. Deadpool been makin a jackass outta imself, _oui?_ "

"Akira punched him in the face when he hit on Rachael," Elle explained. "Scott was out of the room at the time, but Jean told him when he came back in. He then flipped out and started shouting at Deadpool."

Logan chuckled. "So that's the commotion I heard. Thought it was a mouse, not One Eye."

Elle nodded. "Yup. Well, Emmy's gotten a little sleepy as you can see, so we're going back upstairs." She shifted the sleeping baby on her shoulder, then looked back to Logan. "I hope I won't be alone for too long..."

"I'm right behind you, darlin." Logan smiled, then turned to Remy as his wife left. "Think you can handle it down here by yourself?"

" _Mais oui_ , from d'sound of it Akira'll shred Deadpool for Cyke if necessary, so all Remy gotta do is keep an eye on _mon fils_. Etienne know he not supposed to be movin _too_ fast..."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Logan grumbled as he headed inside. He knew just about everyone was encouraging their children to be together, and honestly it didn't bother him. Remy's son really was a good kid. "...Hey Rem."

" _Oui_?"

"If Etienne gets my daughter pregnant, I'm gonna kill YOU."

Remy fumbled his beer and cursed as it spilled all over his shirt, leaving the rest of the partygoers to wonder just what exactly had Logan busting with laughter.

* * *

Afterword: The epilogue is mostly two fold; it provides an end to Remy's story (and Deadpool's since I abruptly tossed him out of the story after the lake), and shows how everyone is doing later on down the line. You may have noticed a little line about Etienne in the Devastation chapter, this is why I encouraged everyone to read "The Baby with the Blue Eyes" before posting it. In that story his mother is Storm, but here he is actually a doorstop baby.

The children's stories play out basically the same between the two stories, with the exceptions of Lilly's conception (which you've seen here), and Etienne's parentage. In Kozure, Remy is closer to his comic self, wooing anyone who strikes his fancy and that's where his son came from. He looks to Elle to be his boy's godmother and is where he got most of his parenting skills, but in reality Etienne has several aunties in the mansion who keep him under control. Auntie Rogue in particular, who sometimes thinks of herself as the mom he never had. Works great until her and Remy start squabbling. ;)

As I mentioned in Baby, Lilly and Akira are essentially my substitutes for Laura and Daken. And of course, the fourth wall breaker noticed. They've inherited their father's abilities, while Kanani is the special case in the family. She eventually overcame her colic and inherited her parents' healing abilities, but instead of Logan's bone claws, she developed the ability to manipulate metal based on Elle's sensing ability. If I ever write any short stories for this family, she'll be how the other two get metal claws. As for new baby Emmy, I don't know what her power is. ^^; The deal with her is that Logan and Elle were finished having children, but Logan still really loves his wife. Then Jubilee brought orphaned Shogo home, and Logan remembered how fun it was having a baby around, and oopsie...

Right about here is when I'm putting the "comic book time" rule into effect. So that means yes, Elle is technically 62 and so Remy would be in his 70s, Charles in his 120s, Logan near 200, etc... But you know no one ever grows old in a comic unless they're going from baby to adult. So anything else I might write isn't going to worry about how old people are. The baby is the baby, the teens are experimenting with young love, Akira is getting looks from One-Eye about whether or not he's going to bog down Rachael forever, etc.

That said, before I ever write any oneshots, I'd like to go back and write the other part of this story, how things happened from DOFP Logan's point of view in the X-Men/X2/Last Stand timeline. That was the original plan, to have two stories, except that before I knew it, this turned into a 70k monster. This story was supposed to be mostly Elle's take, so I wrote all her parts first person. The other story would be best written in third, since it would hop around a little. I'll have to re-outline it, though, since some things changed from my original plan (for instance, I hadn't worked the island from Origins into it, I just threw that in there).

Thank you to everyone who made it this far, and to everyone who took the time to write a review. I always look forward to your feedback and appreciate it. :)

I realize the timelines of this story may have been a little confusing, and as such, I have made a little chart to help you. :)

1976: Elle's birth year  
1983: 'Cold, Fingernails, and Pain'  
1992: 'The Flower That Blossomed'  
2000: 'Southern Belle'  
2008: 'Charged', Lilly's birth year  
2016: Akira's birth year  
2023: 'Devastation', Kanani's birth year  
2037: Emmy's birth year  
2038: 'Epilogue'

Edit: Holy crap. I got back from seeing Logan and I swear, I had no idea what was going to happen. So if anything seems similar, it's not intentional! I swear on my Elle doll!


	41. Bonus: Experiment

A/N: Hello everyone, I have a bonus chapter that I wrote back in March but forgot to upload until now... Almost 5 months late is better than never, right? I have a few others that I started and will finish someday. The idea is that each chapter will be self contained, and take place some point along Logan and Elle's journey. They may not be in chronological order, for example this first one takes place right after the main story ends (before the epilogue) but the next one I'm working on takes place right after Elle's new ability develops (before the DOFP chapter). I will point out when each bonus chapter takes place in relation to the main story. Like so:

"Experiment" (takes place after #39 "I Hate The Cold")

* * *

Stryker stood at the center of his observation deck, a wide grin on his face. His research assistant hovered anxiously over his shoulder, chewing the end of a pencil. "Sir, you sure this is a good idea? We could lose her..."

"I have everything under control," he answered, shoving the assistant off his shoulder and looking out the window, where five year old Elle sat in a patch of grass and played with a stick. "We've refrained from taking any samples or inflicting any wounds for some time, so she shouldn't be giving off anything but her natural pheromones. There will be no one else in the room, so this experiment should tell us if there is any natural attraction between the sexes when they share a genetic mutation."

Stryker pressed a button on his console, triggering a flashing light in the observation deck. Elle looked up from her doodles on the ground as a door in the fence rose, admitting a man into the grassy arena. She was frightened by the equipment he was wearing around his body; usually when the bad people came out, they had a lot of equipment with them.

When the man stepped forward, Elle stumbled to her feet and began backing away. He was snarling and twitching his fingers; it reminded her of the big one with the yellow hair that always terrorized and beat her. Elle whimpered as he got closer, but then she noticed that the door he emerged from was still open...

Elle started to run, thinking she could go around the side of the scary man and make it through wherever he came from. She stopped short when he lurched to the side and stuck his arm out, as three long silver knives came out of his knuckles. Elle gasped and immediately ran the other way, trying to get around his other side.

The scary man anticipated this move, and spun on his heel bringing his extended arm around in a half circle. It connected with his fleeing prey, the tips of his blades impacting and slicing diagonally through the child's back from shoulder to hip. She fell in an instant. Just as he stood above her body to finish her off, a surge went through his temple from the limiter device around his head, and he dropped to his knees in pain.

"Alright, take her to the operating theater and make sure she's stable." Stryker entered the arena with his security team, shaking his head as the research assistants applied pressure bandages to Elle's back and loaded her onto a gurney. "No anesthetic."

Elle shivered as she lay in pain, crumpled on the ground with her consciousness leaving her. She saw Stryker stare at her, then go over and inject the scary man with something before smacking him in the face and what looked like yelling at him. The last thing she saw scared her the most- the scary man turned and stared straight at her. That's what stayed on her mind as everything went dark.

* * *

Elle woke up screaming her head off, enough to make Logan jump out of bed with claws at the ready. Not only that, but her scream also woke baby Kanani who promptly broke into a perfect imitation of a fire siren.

"Darlin? Elle, are you okay?" Logan sheathed his claws and quieted the baby once he realized a war hadn't broken out, but grew extremely concerned once he saw the look on his wife's face. She was staring at him in sheer terror, and when he reached out to her, she flinched before breaking down and crying into his chest.

"...Wanna talk about it?" If anyone knew nightmares, it was him.

"W-when I was real little, d...did I have..." Elle's voice was breaking. "On my back... scar...?"

"You mean after we escaped, but before the cabin?" Logan had to think. Most of her scars had faded over the years, a phenomenon Hank attributed to her pregnancies. She still retained the large one on her arm from Sabretooth and the adamantium, and strangely enough a small cut along her forearm where Logan had given her the transfusion.

Then Logan remembered that when he was treating Elle's measles, he did see a long line running across her back from her shoulder to her tailbone. It wasn't like the marks that Sabretooth had left on her, it was clean and almost surgical in precision. "...There was something, now that I think about it," Logan recalled. "A long line across your whole back. It looked like a surgical scar."

Elle shuddered and sunk down into the bed, resuming her crying. Alarmed, Logan used the opportunity to see if the scar was still there. He had to squint, but there was a very faint diagonal line peeking out of her nightgown. Judging from the crying and the terror on her face, it had to be something to do with Alkali Lake.

"Elle..."

"Y'know how Remy said they did stuff... horrible stuff I didn't remember?" Elle eked out, voice muffled by a pillow. "I remembered something."

Logan frowned, realizing what must have happened. "Who was it? Stryker? Or Creed? Who did this to you?"

"...You did."

This time Logan was the one with the look of horror on his face. "I...?"

 _See? I told you something like this was going to happen. You're nothing more than an animal playing at being human. You sliced her up once, what stopped you back when they let you out?_

Logan shoved his inner voice back down inside, and ran a hand through his hair. Did he really do something that horrible?

"I was real little," Elle mumbled, squeezing Logan's free hand like a vise. "My mom must have just died. You had all that robot stuff wired into you... It must have made you crazy, and Stryker was probably controlling you somehow." Elle looked up from her pillow. "It scared me, and I tried to run away. That's when you..."

"Enough," Logan shushed, and pulled Elle into an embrace. "I don't remember any of the things they had me do, but I can assure you, if I had any control at all, I wouldn't have harmed you on purpose."

"You looked at me." Logan raised an eyebrow, as Elle took Kanani from his hold and stared blankly at the wall. "It was the last thing I saw before I woke up, you were staring straight at me. Stryker had just smacked you in the face and yelled at you for something, and the whole time you were staring at the ground like a zombie. But right before I passed out, you turned your head and stared straight at me."

"...You said when we escaped, I had a chance to kill you in my rage but didn't?" Logan scratched his sideburns, then smiled as his thought came to fruition. "I used to think I spared you because I could sense you were not a threat. Now from what you've told me, I believe I spared you because I recognized you."

Elle looked up at him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"Perhaps I realized I made a mistake in attacking you. If Stryker was smacking and yelling at me, then hurting you must not have been what he wanted me to do; and a child is obviously incapable of breeding, so we know that wasn't his endgame. I screwed up whatever his experiment was, but in the long run, I succeeded in helping you get away."

Thinking it over, Elle came to a conclusion. "I'll bet he was testing our compatibility," she mumbled, looking from Kanani up to Logan. "...Heh, baby number three says you passed."

"Well I had forty years to study." Logan laid Kanani back in her bassinet, then got back into bed and pulled Elle into his arms. "You know I would never hurt you on purpose, then or now. So if you remember anything else, don't be afraid to tell me about it, okay? I know you think you're hurting my feelings by doing so, but keeping it from me hurts even more. We made it this far together, we can handle whatever else comes our way."

"You're right, I will." Elle nuzzled into Logan's chest, and closed her eyes. She hoped this would be the first and last memory of Logan hurting her, but with their past the way it was, they could never rule anything out. At least she could take comfort in the fact that Stryker was dead, and he could never hurt them again.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little bonus! I'm not sure how many more I will write, but I have at least one or two more planned...


	42. Bonus: Carbonadium

"Carbonadium" (takes place after #37 "Afterlife" and before #38 "Devastation")

(A/N: There's a brief mention of the FOH and Omega Red, FOH is a group of anti-mutant protesters and Omega Red is an enemy of Wolverine's who has radioactive carbonadium tentacles and is a sort of energy vampire. He's not important to the chapter, but the carbonadium is.)

* * *

Elle laid in bed, staring out the window at the predawn sky. Behind her Logan shifted in his sleep, the arm around her waist tightening. She glanced down and noticed a bullet lodged in his forearm, one that barely seemed to be working its way out on its own. Elle carefully pulled it out, wincing as it burned her fingertips. Carbonadium. No wonder the first thing Logan did when he got back was make love to her before passing out; pump enough of this stuff into someone with a healing factor, and it will completely negate it.

 _Where there's one, there's more_ , Elle thought to herself, and pulled the covers back to examine Logan's torso. It was a little hard to see, between the dim light of the room and his dark chest hair, but there was faint bruising scattered all around. Elle steadied her hand over the darkest bruise, and focused on the metal beneath the skin.

Logan's adamantium skeleton wasn't that hard to identify. After recovering from the incident with Stryker and giving birth to Lilly, Elle had experimented with her new ability by using it to feel Logan's bones. He didn't mind, in fact he found it slightly ticklish. After Lilly was tucked in her crib, Elle would lay on their bed and just trace her hand over every part of Logan's body. Sometimes she never made it the whole way before Logan pounced.

The dark bruise over Logan's right pectoral muscle was hiding three bullets, two lodged between his third and fourth ribs and the other impacted on the bone. Further down, about where his liver would be, there were two more deeper in and one just about to break the surface. On his left side there was one up by the clavicle, one in the spleen, four down in his pelvis, and to top it off, one on the inside of his upper thigh.

"Sex would've be the last thing on my mind if I'd been shot here," Elle mumbled to herself, before focusing on the bullet. Her new power was predominantly sensory in nature, but as a form of penance for his crimes (and because he was excited to have a magnetokinetic student), Magneto taught her how to use that sense to call small objects to her.

Elle gently coaxed the bullet up toward the skin, then tweezed it out with her fingers. Logan didn't move an inch, a testament to how worn out he was. The hole left behind began to close on its own, so Elle tossed the slug on the floor and moved up to his pelvis.

* * *

Logan felt utterly exhausted when he came back from the mission last night. Some FOH assholes causing their usual bullshit, only this time they managed to get their hands on a couple cases of carbonadium ammunition. Oh, when he found Omega Red, he was going to rip those tentacles out and...

Putting revenge on the backburner, Logan realized as he opened his eyes that he wasn't feeling quite as worn out as he had been. Glancing down he discovered why, as his love was draped over him and using his chest as a pillow. He knew it wasn't a foolhardy decision to skip the med bay. He needed sexual healing, not Furball poking around where he didn't belong. Logan just hoped he wasn't too rough, normally he didn't black out right after sex.

A smile on his face, Logan picked up the arm Elle had draped over his chest and brought it to his lips. In doing so, he noticed the tang of blood. Immediately opening his eyes, Logan discovered that the tips of Elle's thumb, index, and middle fingers were scorched and bloody. Wondering why the scent didn't alarm him sooner, Logan looked around the room and discovered the cause- just over a dozen carbonadium slugs tossed onto the floor.

"Aw, shit." Logan scowled, realizing that Elle figured out what happened and dug up the rest of the bullets that he failed to force out on his own. He fumbled for the night table drawer and found the pack of baby wipes, so he tried to clean the blood from her fingers. Since her healing ability was so much weaker than his, even the slightest contact with the radioactive metal was enough to harm her, and the burns reflected that.

Elle stirred as Logan was cleaning her fingertips, and looked up with a smile. "Morning."

"That stuff is dangerous," Logan said, kissing her sore fingers.

"I know, that's why I pulled it all out of you. You were exhausted."

Logan wasn't about to argue with her, especially since she was making that cute puppy dog face that always melted him. "I guess I better clean them all up before Lilly escapes her crib and comes in here, then steps on one..."

"Yeah, that's her way of telling you she wants a big girl bed," Elle joked as she watched Logan get up and scoop the bullets into a glass. Hank would appreciate having the metal samples for one of his experiments. "...You were scared, weren't you?"

Logan stopped what he was doing, and turned to her with confusion on his face. "Huh?"

"You ran right up here and tossed me into bed," she reminded him, "and you barely made it through without passing out. You're normally never that exhausted, so you must have been in a lot of pain that wouldn't dissipate. When I was in that much pain, I thought of you."

Smiling, Logan sat down on the bed and pulled Elle into his arms. "I was a little... _concerned_ that I might not make it home to see you again, so yeah, I guess I was scared. And maybe I ran up here to be with you because all of the other times I've been beaten that bad, I never had the chance to hold you close while I could still function."

Elle returned a warm smile at Logan's confession, causing the feral inside him to purr and Logan to roll her over into the mattress. Just as Logan and Elle really started to become absorbed in making out, Logan caught a tiny hand out of the corner of his eye reaching for the glass of bullets on the nightstand.

"Oh no you don't." Logan reached out and grabbed the little gremlin, plopping her down on the bed between the two of them. "She's getting craftier, I didn't even hear her this time."

Fugitive Lilly giggled as Mommy tickled her sides. "I told you, she's been escaping that crib more often. With her being two now, we really need to switch to a toddler bed." Elle scooped up Lilly, and headed for the changing table. "The alternative would be to have her sleep with us, in which case you'd have to give up-"

"Okay, I'll get a toddler bed," Logan quickly finished, not wanting to consider the alternative.


	43. Bonus: Colic

A/N: This chapter starts out about Kanani but is primarily about Akira. I wanted to write a chapter about each of the kids and their powers, and I thought why not write about the big fight? Though this takes place in the Apocalypse timeline, I decided that the Angel we see in that movie is not the same Angel that is seen in the old movie timeline. I needed a snob family and the Worthingtons fit that bill (plus I don't really buy that the timeline changes would have screwed up their family that much). So for the sake of this story, Archangel and Angel are two separate people.

"Colic" (takes place one week before #38 "Devastation")

* * *

I love my family, I really do. However, it can be very stressful when you're the wife of a feral type mutant, even more so when your children turn out to be carbon copies of their father. Add to that the exhaustion placed upon your body by childbirth and the care of a two week old colicky infant, and you get one very worn out Elle Howlett.

It started two weeks ago, with the birth of our third child Kanani. She is adorable and perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. She's the first of the children to actually resemble me instead of Logan, with soft brown hair and a different shade of eye color that Hank thinks might turn toward my green. Her eyes are even shaped similar to mine. It's adorable!

Unfortunately, about a week after birth, the crying started. Crying, and crying, and crying. Nothing would calm Kanani down when she got started. Thankfully Logan didn't seem to mind it, and he tended to have better luck getting her to stop than I did. (Except when it was hungry crying, unfortunately he lacked the equipment for that.)

That's how I became the wanderer amongst the School for Gifted Children. Whenever Kanani started up with one of her bouts, I would pick her up and try to calm her down while walking around. We usually ended up down in the kitchen or the common area, since those areas were the least inhabited. See, Kanani liked to schedule her crying for the wee hours of the night, and above all else, I hated waking Logan up. He worked so hard, he shouldn't have to sacrifice his sleep to deal with the baby.

Now, the added stress of deprived sleep will get to any woman who has recently given birth, healing factor or not. During one of these colic trips, I had managed to get Kanani quieted down but I was also a stone's throw from passing out myself. Luckily for me, I was in the common area at the time, and Remy just so happened to have put a crib for his son Etienne by the couch so he could watch television with the baby. I borrowed the crib and passed out on the couch.

I woke up the next morning to Lilly frantically shaking me, and a bunch of students gathered at the windows watching some kind of scene. "Mom, Mom, Akira's in trouble!"

That was enough to shake me out of my haze, and I sat up to see what was going on. There was a group of people gathered outside on the basketball court, and I could tell from the red hair that one of them was Remy. A large set of wings signaled that Warren Worthington was also outside, and if he was there, his son Warren the fourth was probably there as well.

My Akira was a good if somewhat fresh kid, having inherited a bit of his father's attitude and temper. I did my best to teach him manners, and for the most part he behaved. Logan let him have that mohawk, though, so I suppose people tended to judge him by his looks. As I was about to find out, that's where the trouble started.

I told Lilly to watch the baby, and hurried outside to find out what had happened. Warren III, Storm, and Hank were all hovering over a crouched blonde kid, probably Warren IV, while Akira clung to Remy's legs and Scott stood in the middle with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" I demanded, as Akira ran over and buried his face in my stomach.

Warren III growled and pointed at Akira. "That little brute attacked my son!"

"He's not a brute!" Remy growled back, as I gasped in shock.

"My son would never attack anyone," I protested. "Akira, what happened?"

Akira started to say something, but was cut off as Warren IV started yelling. "Look what he did to my face!" When I turned to look, there were three bloody parallel gashes running along the middle of his face, with his nose having taken the brunt of the damage. "My nose is ruined! It's all his fault!"

"No it isn't!" Akira yelled in defense. "It was an accident, Mom, I swear! He started it, he kept calling me a no good rotten mongrel, and said that since I have black fingernails that I belong in a coal mine." Akira started sniffing, then mumbled, "I only hit him because he kept insulting me. I didn't know this was gonna happen..."

He then held up his bloody hand for me to see, and I couldn't help gasping. Akira had developed bone claws like his father and sister, except these were in a different configuration. Two on the top of the hand between the knuckles, and one underneath on the flat part of the wrist. To top it off, they were black as ebony.

"Oh, Akira..." I rubbed his hand, and knelt down to hug him tight. "It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" Warren III interrupted me. "That little mongrel ought to be taught a lesson for what he's done! Why, if he were a dog, I'd have him put down!"

That's when I heard a terrible sound, one you never want to hear in a fight when you're on the other side. The sound that adamantium blades make as they're sliding out of the skin.

I didn't even know he was downstairs listening, but Logan had heard the last bit of the conversation and was _pissed_. Thankfully Remy had been quick on his feet, and tackled Warren III out of the way before Logan sunk his claws into him. Hank and Scott then managed to restrain him before he did any more damage.

"Talk that way about my son again, you fucking rich twit, and your face will look ten times worse than your kid's!"

"That's enough, Logan." We all turned to see the Professor and Jean arriving on the scene. "You're not helping the situation," the Professor added, before turning to Akira. "Akira, will you let me see what happened?"

Akira was just as afraid of telepathy as his father, but in this instance he knew it was best to let the Professor help. Akira stood still as he was read, then ran back to me when finished.

"Akira is telling the truth," the Professor announced. "He didn't mean to cut him. Warren kept calling Akira names, and when he wouldn't stop, Akira punched at him. However, Akira didn't know that the stress of the bullying would trigger his secondary mutation."

"What's the difference?" Warren III yelled. "The rat still hit him! He needs to be punished!"

"You son of a-" Logan tried to get at Warren III again, but stopped after receiving a sharp glare from the Professor.

"Please calm down, Mr. Worthington," Jean urged. "We will have a talk with Akira about his actions. But the blame does not solely rest on his shoulders. Your son has a history of bullying Akira for his appearance. I have broken the boys up several times in the past for squabbles like this one, and it always seems to come down to Warren insulting Akira."

Warren III scoffed, as though this was nothing to be scolded over. "I'm taking my son to my personal doctors," he said, pulling the boy away from Storm who had been attempting to treat the wounds. "You're going to pay for this!" he shouted Logan's way, before flying off.

"Yeah, try and make me bird brain!" Logan shook off the guys' hold, before coming over and crouching down beside the two of us. "Now, lemmie see my little guy's new gifts!" Akira smiled and showed his father the claws, causing Logan to erupt with excitement. "Holy crap, you have a wrist claw! That's awesome! And they're so cool, black bone..."

"Logan, this isn't the time." Scott started tapping his foot impatiently, earning a rather nasty snarl. "Look, Jean was right when she said that we've caught the boys fighting before. Even if Warren hadn't been cut, the fact still stands that Akira hit him."

Logan stood up like he was going to confront Scott, so I tried to calm him down, when Remy of all people started in. " _Mon capitaine_ , does Rachael ever talk about Warren?"

"What?" Shaking his head, Scott asked, "What does my daughter have to do with this?"

"She's a little older than Akira, but closer to Warren, _non_? Does she ever mention him?"

"I don't see what your point is, but no, she doesn't like to talk about him," he scoffed.

"I think I know what his point is, honey," Jean said as she laid her hand on Scott's shoulder. "Let him continue."

"Warren _et ses amis_ like to hang round de same part of de lunchroom where Rachael and some of de other girls sit," Remy explained. "Remy see dem when Etienne is havin' his lunch in de kitchen. Warren, he don' like it when no one paying attention to him, specially de girls. So, if he sees Rachael sayin hello to Akira and not him, he get pretty mad."

Scott connected the dots, and sighed. "Warren being a jealous bully is still no reason for you to hit people, Akira."

"I think we've covered the subject sufficiently for now, Scott," the Professor declared, after noticing how Akira kept trying to hide behind either me or Logan's legs. "His parents can handle it from here. Let's get back to our duties."

While the rest of the adults scattered, Akira nuzzled his head into my shoulder. "Mama, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to cause any trouble..."

"You didn't cause any trouble," Logan growled, "so you don't have to apologize for it."

"Logan."

"It wasn't his fault, Elle, you heard what happened. That snooty shit insulted him. Hell, it was traumatizing enough to trigger his mutation, for fuck's sake!" Logan sighed, then shook his head. "It's almost funny in a way, this is how I..."

Logan's voice trailed off, so I stood up from the floor and urged him to continue by laying my head on his shoulder.

"Oh, it's nothing... I told you how I started remembering some stuff, right?"

"Yes?"

"Well I remember when my claws first came out, and it was kind of the same situation," he said, turning to Akira. "There was a fight, and I struck the kid who used to bully me. I didn't realize it at the time, but my claws had just erupted for the first time. Slashed him up good."

"Woah!" Akira looked at his own hands, then back to Logan. "What happened?"

"Well, me and the girl that took care of me ran away," he explained, "and a long while later, he showed up where we were hiding looking for revenge. He still had the scars on his face."

"Did you get him, Dad?"

Logan sighed, and glanced my way. He'd told me this part of the story before, about how the first and only woman he'd loved before me tried to stop the fight and accidentally died by his hand. Not exactly something Akira needs to know. "No, he chickened out of the fight. But that was about a hundred and twenty years ago, so he's dust by now."

"He'd have been toast anyways." Akira grinned, then started playing with his new claws.

Since father and son were in prime bonding mode, it was time to take my leave. "You two have a lot of bonding to do, so I'll just go relieve Lilly of babysitting duty." I turned to head back inside, but was promptly scooped off my feet in surprise.

"Oh no, you're heading straight upstairs to bed."

"What?" I fidgeted in Logan's arms as he hauled me away like a sack of potatoes. "Put me down, I can walk!"

Logan just shook his head. "In case you forgot, you just had a baby two weeks ago. Healing factor or not, you shouldn't be running around the mansion in the wee hours of the morning, or taking on the disciplinary committee and getting all riled up when you've hardly had any sleep."

"I slept..." On the couch...

"I know, I went looking for you when I woke up in the middle of the night and there was no Elle and no baby." Logan narrowed his eyes. "I came down the stairs and saw Kanani all cozy in Etienne's crib, but you looked like you had crash landed on the couch. I flipped you over and covered you up, and would have brought you upstairs except that I didn't think Kanani would stay asleep."

That was thoughtful.

"How many nights this week have you gotten up with Kanani?"

This is Saturday, so... seven? "A few..."

" _Elle._ "

"Okay, all of them."

Logan sighed, and stared straight down into my face. "You didn't make the baby on your own, so you're not responsible for taking care of the baby on your own. Okay? I've got a stronger healing factor than you do, plus my body didn't just carry another life for ten months and squeeze it out through a tiny opening like yours did. I can run on fewer hours of sleep. If Kanani wakes up in the middle of the night tonight, let me get it. _Okay?_ "

"But how are you going to-"

Logan laid his hand over my mouth. "There is plenty of formula downstairs, you're not the only one with a baby in the mansion. If you're that worried, you can make some bottles up of your own milk and we'll freeze them or something. Now, enough talking. Bed time."

I hadn't realized we were already upstairs by our rooms. Logan hurried me into our bedroom and changed me into a new nightgown in a blur, then stuffed me into bed. "Sleep now, and maybe after dinner I'll give you a nice relaxing bath."

The curtains were drawn, a sleeping mask was thrown on my head, my cheek was kissed, then the light was turned out as Logan ducked out of the room. I have to admit, as hectic an experience as this was, it was kind of nice to be tucked into bed. But how can I sleep at a time like this? My baby boy got his claws, but at the same time made an enemy of the Worthington family. Kanani's almost definitely got colic, which means either she's not going to have a healing factor like the rest of us, or something's upsetting her tummy and it's what she's eating (which means I might be the problem).

Ohh... Maybe I'm worrying too much. After all, Lilly had some problems as a baby and she turned out fine. But Lilly didn't cry so much... Maybe I just need to get some rest and think this over tomorrow. Yawn... Yes, tomorrow... Zzz...

* * *

Logan listened outside the bedroom door to make sure Elle was sound asleep, then headed back downstairs to relieve Lilly from babysitting duty. He just couldn't believe it, his own son had gotten claws and they were black as the night sky. How cool was that?

"Logan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Huh?" Stopping on the staircase as Jean pulled him aside, Logan scratched his chin. "What? I don't care how much Warren Big Head the Third whines about his kid's nose, I'm not doing anything about it."

Jean rolled her eyes at the typical Logan response. "No, not about that. The Professor asked me to come see you about your nightmares... He thinks that the stress of Kanani's colic and now the development of Akira's new ability may affect the blocks he put in place to keep them at bay. He'd like you to either stop in with him or have me take a look and make sure everything is still as it should be."

"Oh, that." Logan huffed. "Yeah yeah, I'll come down later tonight after I'm done watching the baby and Elle is all rested up."

"Good, I'll let the Professor know."

Jean watched Logan head towards the common area, and once he was out of sight, patted her jacket pocket. Inside was a totem pole pendant that a certain little boy just so happened to have dropped earlier that day...


	44. Bonus: Teddy

I wanted more cute stories about little Elle and Logan. So here's one. It's cute, but it's also functional. So it's not just a fluffball. :)

* * *

"Logan, can I have a teddy bear?"

Logan looked up from repairing the door jamb of the abandoned cabin they now called home, and saw little Elle standing at his back. The eight year old was holding a pillow and was dressed in the ridiculous thrift store pajamas that he had picked up during their travels, but at least she didn't appear to be cold. He hadn't gotten any of the baseboard heaters repaired yet.

"I think I might've had a teddy before I got kidnapped, but I don't remember. A teddy might help me sleep better, since you won't let me sleep with you."

She got him. Logan didn't mind the kid sleeping on the couch with him when he was listening to the radio, or snoozing in his lap after lunch, but he didn't want her sleeping with him at night because of his rather violent nightmares. He wouldn't be able to stand it if he ended up harming her. Also, he didn't want her to know he was sneaking out in the middle of the night to go win money in local bar fights. She wouldn't like that at all.

"Okay, kiddo, I'll find you a bear when I go into town. You going to bed?"

"I was gonna, but the window keeps blowing open."

Damn, another thing to fix. "Oh." Logan listened for a moment to Elle's breathing- she was still sounding somewhat rough from her bout with those diseases, so the last thing he wanted was her sleeping in a room that could potentially turn into an icebox.

"I have an idea, Ellie, wait here." Logan left Elle in the main room for a few minutes as he headed to the back. She stood still for a little bit, but as Logan was taking a little longer than her small attention span would allow for, she started wandering around the empty room.

The cabin wasn't that fancy- apparently the previous owner died in a hunting accident and since it was so out of the way, the residents of the town wanted nothing to do with it. That's how Logan had managed to smooth talk the mayor into letting him have it. There wasn't much in the way of furniture or entertainment, though, and the few books that Elle could understand all had pictures of deer guts in them. Yuck.

"Okay, this should work out." Elle turned around to find Logan carrying her mattress and a big pile of blankets. He moved a few things out of the way and dropped the mattress in the middle of the floor, right in front of the fireplace. "Here you go, you can sleep here in front of the fire. It will keep you warm along with these blankets, and there should be enough layers to keep you toasty if the fire goes out in the middle of the night."

"Are you gonna sleep out here, too?"

Logan paused. This was a Saturday, and Saturday nights always meant more money in his pocket at the roughhouse. But then again, Elle was wheezing a little more than she should be. "...Yeah, I'm gonna finish some of these repairs first, then I'll take the couch."

A big smile lit up Elle's face, and she wormed her way into the blankets on the mattress. She laid there watching him for a while, until she finally passed out. Logan stopped what he was working on when he heard her breathing catch, and sat on the couch to observe her.

Logan didn't remember very much about his past, but he was sure that he didn't have much to do with kids. They were awkward little things who tended to get in the way. But Elle... something about her was different and it made him protective of her. At first he thought it was their similar healing abilities, but that couldn't be it.

Maybe it was how this little girl managed to survive such horrible experiences without breaking into pieces. Logan had a feeling that if he went through such trauma at that age, his mind would snap. Elle on the other hand took everything in stride, though she did seem to become much livelier once he rescued her. Even that bout of measles didn't put a dent in her mood, and she'd been as close to death as she was when he pulled her out of the snow.

He also had to admit she was the cutest little kid he had ever seen. Elle tried to act mature, but usually her baby face and simple mannerisms gave her away. Logan felt awful that day he came home and found her passed out outside the cabin in the snow; he'd seen her looking at a book and assumed she knew how to read, here it turned out she was only looking at the pictures. He should have known better, after all she did say she was imprisoned since she was four and it's not like Stryker would have taught her. Poor thing.

Logan closed his eyes for only a minute, to think about what all he needed to get at the hardware store in the morning. He must have dozed off, because the next thing he saw was a withered grassy arena reflected through a red lens. A tiny thing in a potato sack was scurrying around in front of him, and then tried to get away behind him. Logan was faster, however, and caught it with his claws as he turned around. But then he saw what it was.

Waking with a horrible gasp, Logan realized he had a nightmare about harming Elle. His claws were extended, he was soaked in sweat, and his heart rate was through the roof. He couldn't remember the last time a nightmare scared him that badly. The worst of it was that when he checked himself to see if he cut anything, he realized Elle had crawled off of the mattress and into his lap. Elle was on his lap the whole time.

"Oh, fuck!" Logan quickly pulled up Elle's covers and checked her for any wounds. There was some blood, but it apparently was his own. As far as he could tell, he'd only hit his own knee and the couch. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back and stared out the kitchen window at the predawn sky.

"Don't scare me like that, kid."

* * *

By the time Elle woke midmorning, Logan was nervously running his hands through her hair. "Hi, Logan."

"What're ya doing, crawling up into my lap like that? I said to lay in front of the fireplace."

"Um... I dunno..." Elle started chewing her lip, reminding Logan that he was dealing with a little kid after all.

Discretely folding the bloody blankets over so that she wouldn't see them, he tried to soften his tone. "You'd have been warmer in front of the fireplace, goofball. But since you're up now, you better go get cleaned up and dressed if you want to go into town with me today."

Elle sprung out of Logan's lap with glee, since she was usually left behind when he went into town. While she ran off to the bathroom, Logan quickly hid the soiled blankets and changed out of his torn pants. That was a good pair, too.

"Hey, Logan, what should I wear? All these clothes are pajamas."

Logan stuck his head in Elle's room when he heard her question, and found her sitting on the floor surrounded by all of her clothes. They had nothing when they were forced to flee their last location, and since Elle had been deathly ill, Logan wasn't able to take her with him whenever he went scavenging. Hence all the random thrift items. As he watched her dig through the pile, he realized that perhaps he did wind up with too much sleepwear.

"Uhh, well, I'm gonna get you some new clothes today so just put on something that looks like normal clothes for now."

Elle bobbed her head, then grabbed a shirt emblazoned with a giant Cabbage Patch Kid and a pair of pants that looked like they were made out of flowered wallpaper. At least the boots he found for her would hide the ankle cuffs. Logan left her to finish getting ready while he gathered his wallet and keys, then shoved a piece of toast in her mouth and led her out to the pickup truck.

Logan plopped Elle in the passenger seat, then got in and started the engine. No sooner had he reached for the cigarette lighter than Elle scooted right up against him, a goofy smile on her face.

"Now what are you doing?"

"I wanna sit here," she declared, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning against his shoulder. "There's a seatbelt..."

Defeated, Logan put his cigar back in his pocket. Looks like his smoke would have to wait. "...Alright. But keep your feet away from the gear stick."

* * *

"I want this one! No, wait, this one! Aaah, that one, that one!"

Logan leaned against a wall as Elle buzzed around the kids section of the department store, marveling at all the different outfits. They hadn't even made it to the toy aisle yet and she was already acting like the kids in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. He was even getting looks from some of the other customers, but an angry glare in return scared them off. Elle was having a good time, that's what mattered.

She soon came toddling up to Logan with an armful of colorful clothing, and after Logan made sure she got the right sizes, they were tossed into the basket. "Okay kid, now what?"

"Bear."

"Right."

Elle ran for the toy section, and Logan prepared for another drain to his already meager finances. But surprisingly, he watched her run straight past the expensive looking Care Bears display and right to a little bin with "fun farm" plastered on the side. These animals were a big contrast to the well picked over and precisely manufactured Care Bears. The fun farm bin was barely touched, and the animals within all had a handmade quality to them making each one look unique.

"Aww, I want this one!" Elle said, holding up a large brown bear with a bow on its ear. "But why does it have an extra tag on its arm? None of the others do..."

"It says it's reduced price because it's missing the bow on the other ear," Logan read from the tag. "There's another one in here with both bows, you want that one instead?"

"NO!" Elle hugged the bear protectively and turned away. "She's different just like we're different. Who cares about those normal ones, anyway?"

"Alright, sorry I said anything." Logan watched as Elle glanced back at the bin, and pulled out another animal with a short face and a stocky build.

"Look at this one! I want it, too. Is it a baby bear?"

Logan snickered to himself as Elle poked at the stout little critter. "No, that's a gulo gulo, not a bear."

Elle pouted at Logan's laughter. "Goo goo? That doesn't sound right. What's a goo goo?"

"A wolverine," he said, putting it in the basket and heading for the register.

* * *

Elle clung tightly to her new teddy as she followed Logan around the hardware store. Even though she kept her eyes on Logan, she couldn't help but notice the nasty glares directed their way from the clerks at the counter. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Just ignore them, they're always like that," Logan mumbled as he threw as much of his list as he could afford into the basket. The owner of the hardware store was only slightly prejudiced, but the owner's son was a regular at the local cage fights. A regular who couldn't hold onto his money.

Once all that he had funding for was accumulated, Logan headed to the register and sat the basket on the counter. It just sat there untouched. "...Is there a problem?"

"We don't serve _your kind_ here," the owner replied, moving so that Logan could see the shotgun atop the desk behind him. "Get the hell out of my shop."

"Look, I'd prefer not to get into this with the kid here," Logan said, stepping in front of Elle to shield her as he sighed. "If you let me buy this stuff now, you can keep the change and you'll never see me in here again." He punctuated his statement with a hundred and fifty dollars laid on the counter.

"Bribing us with my own money, freak?" The owner's son moved to grab the gun, but his father stopped him. "...Take the shit and get out!"

Logan scooped up Elle and the merchandise, hurrying out of the store before things got ugly. "...They're not all like those two jerks back there, Elle. Most people don't care if you're a mutant or a nonmutant, they only care if you're a good person. The problem is that our kind are unfortunately overexposed to the worst of society."

"...Like the people who kidnapped us?"

"Exactly. Now stop chewing on your bear's ear."

Elle let out a nervous giggle as Logan put the things in the truck bed, then stuffed her in the cab. "I was just a little scared, is all. I didn't know what they were gonna do..."

"Those guys know they need more than a shotgun to deal with me," Logan said with a smirk as he started the truck. "So don't you or your teddy bear worry. I'll keep you safe."

Her face lighting up, Elle hugged her bear tight and snuggled up against Logan for the ride home. After such an eventful day, bundling back up in front of that fireplace was starting to sound real appealing...

* * *

I actually have the brown bear. It was missing the bow tie around its neck, that's why hers is missing a bow around its ear. :D

And FYI, I wrote the "gulo gulo" line like several months before I found out that there is an identical line in an All New Wolverine comic with Gabby and Jonathan. *facepalm* I'm not changing it.


End file.
